The Deal
by loopyfanficer
Summary: Its back! Heero and Relena make a bet, the first one to lay or make their chosen English partner fall in love with them. P.s. Did have over 200 Reviews but they got deleted when I reuploaded the story in 06 x
1. The Deal

Hey everyone I've reposted this as i have had it all read by a Beta so hopefully it should read better. I have also made some small minor changes so if you haven't read the story for a while I might suggest that you give it a quick read to catch up what i have changed for example Heero doesn't play basketball anymore he plays football (The American Version) lol. Hope you all like it. I'm currently writting new chapters and i have also posted a new chap for you all to read. Cheers! P.S I hope i don't loose all my Reviews by doing this. Last time i took my story off i had over 200 reviews and i lost them all :(

**Chapter 1**

**The Deal **

Relena stared wide-eyed at the two in bed in front of her, her baby pink lipsticked mouth dropping at the sight. How could he? The…The Ungrateful BASTARD!!!

"Heero?" The boy's name tumbled from her quivering lips. Her eyes flashed madly as she reached forward, grabbing the end of the white silk bed covers and yanking as hard as she could. The covers flew from the boys' naked bodies, in one swift movement, letting the cold air of the room suddenly lick their skin. Both woke instantly from their stated sleep and jumped for their lives once seeing who was standing at the bottom of the bed. One of them flew from the bed like a rocket and grabbed the nearest thing to cover himself, while the other simply stared at the woman with a sickening grin on his face. Relena felt her anger bubble up inside her. How could he DO this to her? She was Relena Peacecraft! The Potential Princess of the Sanc Kingdom! Nobody cheats on her! NOBODY! Especially with her own BROTHER!

"What's wrong my dear little sister?" Zechs a.k.a Millardo, her brother, purred crossing his arms behind his head. He sprawled back on the bed like a cat as if nothing interesting was happening in the room; still completely naked as the day he was born. This just made Relena seethe more. She could feel the anger bubble inside of her like water in a kettle.

//I'll kill him! How dare he seduce MY Heero, MY Boyfriend!//

Zechs smirked to himself. He licked his lips as he watched Heero, who was totally embarrassed by the whole situation, quickly get dressed - I mean who wouldn't be? The brown haired boy pulled on his white shirt as quickly as he could, as brother and sister battled it out.

"What's wrong?" Relena's voice was loud and shrilly. She pointed one bony white finger at her brother, her golden diamond ring shimmering in the light. "You seduced MY boyfriend! What the FUCK do you think is wrong?!"

"Well I thought the guy needed a good fuck up the arse." The blond man replied matter of factly, as Heero's eyes widened at the rude comment. Rolling onto his stomach into the sticky spot on the bed his grin grew even wider as he eyed Heero up and down. "Besides, he's got one of the hottest bodies I've ever seen and…" He ran his finger through the substance on the bed and brought the digit up to his mouth sucking on it seductively as he eyed up Heero's body. "He tastes absolutely fantastic to."

"How could you do this to me, BOTH of you!" She yelled, her eyes glaring at the two. "Why...why!!" The last word was caught in a sob as she turned away from the scene before her first tear could fall. The room lapsed into a terrible silence.

"Why?" It was Heero who was the first to break the silence this time. "You want to know WHY!" He marched over to the girl and spun her around vigorously to face him. Her mascara had started to run with her tears down her face leaving black marks behind. He shook her violently.

"Because I've finally found out how many times you've cheated on me Relena!" He snarled. Suddenly turning he began to pace the room. Relena watched, surprised a little that the boy actually cared. There was a little laugh from the bed where Zechs was now lying again with his arms behind his head.

"Basically darling little sister he came running to me with his problems...and…well we sorted ended up here fucking each others brains out."

"Shut it!" Relena yelled over to her blonde brother. There was silence before she dropped her head and whispered, "so you did all of this just to get back at me...You know I've only cheated on you twice and they where both when I was fucked outta my face". The two boys kept silent. "I regretted it as soon as I woke up, I realised I loved you." Zechs snorted to himself gaining him another death glare from Relena. The room was back into silence until the Japanese boy spoke.

"Would you ever take me back?" he spoke softly in remorse. "It didn't mean a thing I swear, we sort of ended up like this." Relena took a while to consider her answer, the silence was beginning to drive him nuts.

"I don't know." She finally spoke. "You weren't even drunk Heero...I..." She fell into silence and stared at the floor thoughtfully.

"Relena please give me a chance, I've realised what I've done is wrong - just like you did." The brown haired boy begged. He didn't like doing it but he didn't want to lose her and besides he knew she liked it when people begged her.

"You see - there are so many other guys who'd love to be in your shoes Heero Yuy." She drawled nastily as there was another snort of laughter from the bed. Relena glared at her brother before she continued. "I could easily find a guy who would love to take your place and have my love. How could you humiliate me like this I feel so - So - Embarrassed..."

It was Zechs who was first to speak this time, "and I'm sure every girl or boy." He winked over at Heero who returned his comment with a death glare. Zechs just smirked and continued, "would love to be in your shoes too Relena." Relena glared at her brother again.

"So Heero's the hottest boy in school Boohoo, but I think I'm in a way better situation than him." Relena glared.

"Then why don't we make a Deal?" The two teens turned all their attention to the boy who rolled back onto his stomach. Leaning his chin on the palms of his hands, he stared up at the two with a large grin.

"What type of deal?" Relena asked curiously.

"So Lena, you think any boy would love to go out with you." Relena nodded in agreement. "And I think that anyone would love to go with sexy boy here." Zechs winked at the growling boy. "So I think we should make a bet, first person to lay..."

"No Millardo I don't..." Relena started but was cut off.

"No listen Lena, whoever lays or gets the chosen person to fall in love with them first gets to choose what to do next. For example, Heero if you lay someone or get them to say 'I love you' out loud in front of everyone, Relena will have to remain your girlfriend, and Relena if you win you can choose what to do with sunshine here." Zechs smiled up at the stoic Japanese boy. "You see this way Relena you can have time to think over what you want from Heero, and well, Heero, you can finally realise that there is much more fish in the sea and tell my darling little sister to go fuck herself..."

"Millardo that's enough...Though the idea does sound...Kinda...Well lets just say it sounds like a good idea to me, what about you Heero?" The blonde turned to her sort of boyfriend, who was staring up at the ceiling in deep thought.

"I don't know."

"You know what, just to make it easier, we could just go by whoever we are partnered with for the new English project at school." The blonde answered. "Right it's a deal!" She stated as she held out her hand. Heero thought for a second. He was the most popular boy in the school he could get who ever he wanted into his bed and then that would mean Relena would have to return to him.

"Deal." He answered in a monotonous voice, grabbing the blonde's hand in a firm shake. With that, Relena flipped her hair behind her shoulder and stomped off to the door. Heero could tell she was still very upset at what she'd just walked in on, but he promised himself that once he'd won he'd make it up to her.

"You're going down Yuy!" She called as she slammed the bedroom door shut on the two boys. There was silence before Zechs yawned.

"I'm going to sleep now, you wouldn't mind passing my covers to me as you leave." Heero glared at the man he'd just fucked before stomping out the room, slamming the door equally as hard as Relena. Zechs just simply rolled his eyes.

"Fucking Teenagers...But still good fucks!"

TBC...

* * *

Hey! I've decided to post this back up but I am in desperate need of a Beta. If I cannot find a beta then I probably will not post, as I don't think it's fair if there are millions of grammar and spelling mistakes. If anyone would like to help me continue my work and beta for me please email me! Thanks! Sorry this was off for ages I want to try and complete it, although it maybe a slow process, I've got very important exams at the moment, but I have a lot of free time between since I have a month off yay! Also if anyone wants this fic to continue please REVIEW! Peace out everyone! Loopy xXx


	2. My Life Duo Maxwell

**Chapter 2**

**My Life Duo Maxwell**

**(DUO POV)  
**  
All my life, I've believed in fairy tales. Way back when I was just 6 years old, I used to steal the books from the library and try and read all the old classics such as 'Beauty and the Beast', 'Aladdin', and 'Cinderella' all of them would leave me in tears, and that would have been from just looking at the pictures! I've always wished that I were a prince, trapped in a high castle waiting for my true love to come and rescue me. I bet I sound pathetic I'm nearly 19 now and I still do it. My mind wanders so often that even when I'm talking to someone I'll space out. I'm trying to teach myself to stop doing it, however, I couldn't do it without the help from Father Maxwell of the Maxwell Church.

However before we get into all the heavy stuff I'd better introduce myself. The names Duo Maxwell. I may run and I may hide but I never tell a lie – That's my motto. I'm an orphan from the Maxwell Church, in the Sanc Kingdom. Though how did I get there, you might ask yourself?

To be honest I don't know how it started out, however I was found wandering round the streets when I was only four years old by a street gang. They took me under their wings and looked after me. The leader was nice to me. His name was Solo.

I lived with them for the first few years of my life. They taught me how to live on the streets as a proper street rat. Their motto was 'What you take is what you get'. I found out in my first week of being in the gang that many of the members were skilled in stealing things. They were like magicians making things disappear and reappear in their pockets. So stealing from shops became my speciality and…selling myself to get money. However I didn't start doing this until I was 10 – Sick I know but it was between having an apple to eat or having an apple covered in chocolate. I still have the scars and I think that by the time I was 11 years old I was totally put off of sex for life.

I hated waiting on some street corner for some sick son of a bitch to come by and ask for a BJ or to listen to their pitiful life. I'd always say in the sweetest voice I could conjure. "Sure honey just as has long as you have the cash" I'd flutter my long eyelashes at them as they'd take out a wad of notes and hand them over to me. Sick bastards, it was mostly men but I did have a few women. Though they weren't as bad and most of them just felt sorry for me.

By my 11th birthday, I fell hard for Solo. Yeah that's right I'm gay so sue me. It still hurts for me to think about him. He was always there for me and he always gave me a little more food than the rest of the gang. That pissed some of them off…however that was just the start. All of them were jealous of me I guess. Solo was a very good-looking guy. He could have chosen any person in the whole world… But he chose me. I felt like the luckiest brat in the whole world that night. He was 5 years older than me, but we didn't care. Every night I'd sleep in his arms after our little lovemaking and I'd forget where I was. You know that wish I told you about, well I believe that Solo was my Prince and he'd rescued me. He was everything to me...and I loved him. He told me he loved me, and I believed him. I thought my fairytale was coming true.

It stayed like that 2 years until I was 13 years old. I'd seen members of the gang come and go. Some dying of pneumonia during winter and some even getting murdered by mad men or 'customers'. Every time someone would die I would feel a painful loss. Not only were they just my gang mates but they where my friends too. By the time, I thought it was coming up to my 13th birthday; I was the master at stealing and picking locks. I could get into anywhere. I was happy with my life...that was until Solo died.

The rest of my life is a blur after that and I don't like to think about it. However, I can remember how I met Father Maxwell quiet clearly. I was running that day. I ran and ran and ran. I didn't know where I was going nor did I care until I bumped into the priest. He took me in and kept me at the church under his watchful eyes. Since then I've never left. It's been nearly been 5 years. Father Maxwell tried to get my past out of me but I've never been able to tell anyone. It's just another secret to add to my already mysterious life, and I'm taking it to my grave.

Everything's fine now, I live at the church with the rest of the orphans, and it's actually fun to have people to talk and tell stories too. Believe me I have loads of fairy tales to tell that I've thought up. The kids all know me as the God of Death for I normally always wear black. I also have long chestnut hair that I normally tie back in a braid it's nearly a metre long now! A nun that looks after the orphan children named Sister Helen tried to cut it off when I was asleep once because by the time I was 14 years old it kept getting tangled a lot as I always wore it down. I woke up, just as she was about to descend the awful scissors onto my beautiful hair and yelled for help. Nearly waking up the whole neighbourhood I might add.

After what we now call the 'Incident', Sister Helen vowed she'd never try and cut my hair again. So she brushed out all the tangles and mud (Some how that had come tangled in there. What? Can't a child have a little fun?). Anyway...Oh and did that hurt! I nearly cried when she put the brush through. After she gave me one single black leather band and taught me how to braid my hair. It's been like that ever since, and I will never cut my hair...only to get rid of split ends. It's a reminder to me about all the people I've loved in the past.

Father Maxwell once said to me that the most stunning feature I have apart from my hair is my eyes. He said they reminded him of a violet flower glittering in a field on a summer's morning. Though at the time I snorted at the comment thinking it was a load of...I shouldn't think of the word because at the moment I'm sitting inside my home, the church. But anyway, now that I look back I feel warm inside because he actually said something nice about me. I actually felt loved, which I haven't felt for a long time. If it weren't for a the dreams I've been having, which have only just started over the last year, I think I'd actually feel at peace.

Dreams. What are they anyway? Sometimes I'm scared to fall asleep to find out what I'll see behind my lids. They confuse me to no end. I've told the Nun, Sister Helen about them. She told me it was because I watch too much television at school, and read too many fairy tales! But there must be something else behind them. I normally have one weird dream once a week, but recently they've become more frequent.

I used to have dreams about Solo. He used to plague my dreams every night. My mind used to go over and over everything to see if there was anyway to save him. However after a few years they slowly disappeared. I still do have the odd dream about him; they are the worst nightmares in the world. However, the ones I've been having lately are the ones that confuse me. They're normally set in a large marble ball filled with dancing men and woman. I'd wait round the edges of the dance floor, dressed in the finest suit I've ever seen. Then this person, faceless, asks me for a dance. Well not ask me, he just takes my hand and leads me out onto the marble dance floor. Then all of a sudden, we'd take off round the room knowing this complicated waltz. I bet I couldn't even dance it if I tried in reality but in my dreams it looks like I've been dancing it for years. In reality, I can dance many different routines but nothing like the one in my dream.

You know I dance for a club where I've been going since I've lived on the streets. They pay me £80 each song I sing and dance to (I put 80 of it in the churches contribution box each week, the other 20 I spend on beer at the end of the night…So sue me I like my beer!). They wont pay us any more than that even though the club is massive and earns shit loads of money. They say they don't like paying tramps the bastards. So yeah you read that right I'm a pretty good singer and dancer. Father Maxwell and Sister Helen tell me that all the time when we sing hymns in the choir. Though the songs I sing in the church are completely different to what I sing in the club.

Thankfully, Father Maxwell doesn't know about my job. I wouldn't be able to live at the church if he did. He wants me to become the perfect student in and out of school. I have to keep to the way of the bible and I know most of it by heart as I've read it and had it read to me so many times. I spend most of my nights in the church, doing homework, practising the on the organ and talking to the kids. My only time of freedom is on Saturday night when I sneak out to do my job at the club. It's my chance to be the real me.

Anyway back to what I was saying about my dreams...oh yeah...the dance would finish...we'd step away...bow...and then he'd vanish...the next thing I'd know I'd be staring up at my bedroom ceiling...confused and with the most painful headache ever!

"Duo if you don't hurry up you'll miss the bus for your first day back at school!" I winced at the thought of going back to school after the summer holidays. This time I'm going to be a senior, so it's my last year at school. Yay!

I turned to the full-length mirror in my room and looked at my awful self. I only have a few clothes and all are second hand. The church can't afford to buy all new clothes for the kids so I get them from donations. Hell the church can't even afford for every kid to have a shower every night, that's why I only have a shower every Sunday. At the moment, I'm wearing the type of clothing kids my age would never go out wearing and I smell.

At the Sunday ceremony when I get to play the organ for everyone, I wear a black shirt and black trousers. The other kids have White shirts, however the cloth white doesn't suit me…its too pure. Anyway apart from looking nice I smell nice because I have my weekly shower on a Sunday so I actually smell good. My black shirt and trousers are the only nice clothes I own. Father Maxwell only allows me to wear them on Sundays. Today I'm dressed in a pair of light ripped denim dungarees. For starters they are a little too big on me so the straps keep slipping down my shoulders.

Wait it gets worse! Underneath I'm wearing a mustard coloured t-shirt. I also have a multicoloured jumper tied round my waist. It looks like a type of jumper an elderly person would wear at Christmas. At school, they have a strict hair code for boys. Our hair is not allowed to be any longer than shoulder length. Therefore, I hide my metre long braid under a hat. Luckily at our school, you're allowed to wear hats in P.E. Also my hair gets very greasy, as I can't have a shower. To be honest I don't think anyone would want to look at it anyway. You might ask why I don't I shower after P.E? Well someone would probably tell the teacher about my hair. Life's a bitch. The teachers also like to time how fast the boys can get out the boys locker rooms, so there isn't any time to shower after everyone has left.

"DUO!" There was another shout. I roll my eyes. Sister Helen sure does shout loud.

"I'm going!" I yelled back grabbing my plastic bag full of my schoolbooks. Sadly, nobody's ever donated a school bag. I pushed my large glasses back up on my noise. I hate them; they remind me of what that woman out of an English soap. What I don't have is a TV, so I don't get to watch it all the time. I just read the TV guide to find out what's happening. Luckily, they have pictures. Anyway my glasses cover up half of my face. I guess that's lucky, they're sort of a disguise for me. Say if somebody went to the club I dance in and saw me. They wouldn't recognise me because I look so different.

My best friend Quatre, who happens to be mega rich, told me that I have two lives, which is somewhat true. There's me, Duo Maxwell, the church choirboy, geek, freak, loser, whatever they call me at school. Yeah that's right, I'm the school freak. I've never had a boyfriend (that's partially because the school is full of straights) and this side of me has never been kissed (by anyone at school), let alone had...Well you know. Duo Maxwell is my vulnerable side, my shy side…well to the people who don't know me. What they don't know is that I've been to the bottom with the scum and to some extent it has taken an effect to the way I am with people I don't know.

There are three types of people in all schools round the world and colonies. First being the popular kids, the athletes, jocks, cheerleaders whatever you might call them. Everyone would love to go out with one; everyone would like to be one. There would be the famous three girls who where the most beautiful girls in the school. At my school, their names are Relena Peacecraft (head cheerleader, main girl) Sally Po (Second Cheerleader) and Dorothy Catalonia (Joint second cheerleader). These three girls parade around the school, wearing the shortest skirts anyone has seen in their life and constantly putting people down, like me. There would also be the that one guy...the guy every girl (or boy) would get up in the morning to see, the one who is so perfect in every way, from the muscles in his shoulders to the way he, in his own way, struggles to uphold tradition. Oz High School would not be the same without him. High School would not be the same without him. I would not be the same without him (1). The one and only Heero Yuy. Of course, he's surrounded and followed by a bunch of boys who want to be him. While he is also flocked by all of the girls who want to date him. The lot of them have tons of friends and go to parties every night. I'm surprised they even have time to do their studies.

The second lot are a little down from the popular's and are known as the intermediates. They go though school doing their work and never being called a geek for doing it. Normally this lot are friends with the popular people and the geeky people. They are the ones who have to watch everything they do. With one wrong decision they could loose their rep and be known as a Geek. Which is what I of course am known as.

We are the poor, the bookworms, the computer freaks, fridges or just the Geeks and I am all of them in one. These types of people do anything to get friends, but they know deep down that they never will get to be one of the 'Popular' people. However in my case I won't stoop that low which is why I'm the bottom line to everyone's joke. My past makes me realise that you should make the most outta everything, which is very when I go to school I work my ass off as hard as I can.

I only have one friend who is Quatre, and I'm quite happy and content for it staying like that. When I first started school I used to come home crying. Everyone hated me, and I'd done nothing wrong. Some would come up to me in the corridors and knock books out of my hands or chuck food at me in the cafeteria. I'd be called 'Choir Geek'; 'Stinky' or 'Loser'. I have to admit sometimes I am a bit accident prone, all the bad things happen to me.

For example one time when I was coming out of school my plastic school bag split into a million pieces sending my books all over the pavement. Nobody helped me. They all just looked and then suddenly burst out into laughter. I could see tears in their eyes as more students came out of school and stood on my stuff breaking my irreplaceable pens and pencils. My heart ached as I looked up to see Heero Yuy standing not far off with Relena Peacecraft hanging on his arm like a monkey (did I mention their going out? They're the school best couple). Relena was laughing her head off, tears streaming down her face and he...he looked amused and that's when he said it.

"Geek. Maybe you should buy a new bag loser." Everyone burst into laughter. His two friends Trowa and WuFei slapped him on the back congratulating him. My heart seemed to smash into a million pieces. It's a shame I still fancy him the way I do. I feel guilty dreaming about him when he acts like the biggest arsehole in the world. I should be dreaming about Solo however I still have Heero Yuy in my mine saying he loves me…but we all know they're just dreams. Dreams never come true or I'd be standing in a mansion with a million pounds in my hand right now with Solo by my side.

Anyway, Heero is 110 straight.

Anyhow as I was saying Quatre says I have two lives, there's me and then the there's Shingimi. The God of Death. That's what they call me at the club. That's when I let go of myself and just live. I take off my glasses and hat and let my hair down in its braid. I go out and have a few beers, dance and sing then after a few hours...Everyone wants me. So you might ask yourself why don't I act like this at school? Well it's simple like I said before, I don't want to upset Father Maxwell, and well...It's like a spells been put on me (I know fairy tales again), when I step though the school gates and become Duo Maxwell I become shy, a proper geek. I think I would be embarrassed if anyone from school saw me dancing. The club happens to be in a little alleyway in town where nobody in our school would be found dead going. So I'm fine, plus they probably wouldn't recognise me since the club does me up pretty good before a show. I have a shower there before I return to the church. That means I have two showers a week, lucky me! Shame they're one after another. I think Sister Helen got suspicious one Sunday when I came for my shower already clean. I normally go running round the block early in the morning to work up a sweat.

"DUO THE BUS IS OUTSIDE AT THE STOP YOUR GONNA..." Before she could finish, I ran pass her. I couldn't miss the bus. Last time I did that I was running along side it for about 2 miles. I think they got that trick from Spiderman the movie, I watched a little of it at school on one of the last days of term when the teachers let you mess around.

I got there just as the last person paid for a ticket. I dug into my pocket only to find that my bus pass was missing. Shit (Sorry Father), it was on my bed I had forgotten it.

"Errrr..." I looked around to see if Quatre was on the bus so I could borrow some money from him but he didn't seem to be on today. Shit (Sorry Father). The only time I needed his money.

"What's wrong forgot your money kid?" The driver asked. I nodded dumbly the guy rolled his eyes "I'm sorry kid I can't let you on without a pass or money"

"But..."

"What's wrong? The choir geek forgot his money?" Someone called from inside the bus as everyone burst into fits of laughter. Great, I'm already being laughed at and I'm not even at school yet.

"Sorry kid, I have to get this lot to school. Please step off the bus." I felt my eyes brim with tears as more laughter erupted from the kids on the bus. I bit my lip trying to stop the hurt and embarrassment from showing on my face as I got off the bus. The doors sealed behind me and the bus took off. Just to top it off someone had time to dump a bottle of coke all over my hat and down my back as the bus drove off. I was soaked, cold, and Pissed Off. I'd been laughed at and now I'm going to be late for school. Great First day back.

**TBC...**

(1) A Quote from a movie 'Never been Kissed' I just thought it would go well in there.


	3. Meet your new English Partners

**Chapter 3**

**Meet your new English Partners**

**(Heero's POV)**

For the first time in my life, I do not want to go to school. Firstly Relena is going to win this bet in the first day and I'm going to lose her all together. Secondly, I'm gonna have to use all the dirty tricks I can come up with to get this chosen person to fall in love with me. It's either that or having sex with them. That depends on who my chosen person is. I pray to God it's someone easy, someone like Katherine or Sally.

I turned the steaming shower off and grabbed a towel to tie around my waist and another to dry myself off with. I dried myself quickly and thought about what's going to happen over the next few days.

I'm going to have to hang around with somebody and talk to them. I don't like talking that much. That's one thing Relena seemed to understand about me. Even though it took her a few years to come out and ask me. I'd rather have a nice time sitting in with her than going out. That's with her. Everything's going to be different with someone new. I'm probably going to have to go to some wild party every night. I do that most of the time with Trowa and WuFei.

I still can't believe what happened two nights ago with Zechs. He must have drugged my drink...For god's sake he's a guy! I don't do guys. I'm 110 straight. I still can't believe what I'd done until I saw Relena standing at the bottom of the bed crying. I'd made her cry. Though she always cries. I think it's weak. I never cry. But I let Relena cry because...I love her. I always have and always will. She's the love of my life even though I haven't told her. In fact, I've never told her I love her. Maybe that's what she wants to hear - that I don't care that she's mega rich or that her Father maybe the next King of the Sanc, making her the Princess or whatever. She wants to hear that I love her for herself. Then before English, no, when I get to school I'll tell her I love her and then everything will go back to normal. Hopefully. I wish.

I opened the bathroom door and sauntered over to my blue silk covered bed. There laid out on my bed were my school clothes. A simple blue shirt, which my father had bought me before...Lets not get into that. Anyway next to the shirt was a pair of dark blue jeans. The outfit seemed satisfying enough to go to school in. It's the first day back after all; I need to look my best. I took a quick look around my room for my necklace.

I like my room, as it is - plain and simple. When I moved here 10 years ago, my mother told me I could paint my room anyway I wanted, so I chose white for the walls and dark blue for the carpet and roof. My mother then brought dark wooden desks and wardrobes to place inside. My room is the place where I like to relax, with my laptop.

Relena doesn't like my laptop, never has and never will. She says I give it more attention than her. I would change that if it meant I could have her back.

I found my necklace on one of the desks. My mother brought it for me for my 9th birthday. It's a small silver skull on a chain. I like it. It's simple. It reminds me of her.

After applying some deodorant I quickly changed and grabbed my school bag. I ran down the stairs and out into the garage where I keep my black R33 Nissan Skyline. If I get to school quickly and tell Relena I love her maybe she'd put off this stupid bet. I charged the car out of the garage once the door had lifted and drove away, not forgetting to press the remote for the garage door to close behind me.

I was going 100 mph before I became stuck behind the school bus. I could hear catcalls as people stuck their heads out of the windows of the yellow bus to take a good look at my car and me. I quickly rounded it as it came to a stop outside the church and carried on towards school.

Relena was already there with her pink limo (which was driven by a man named Pagan, she's still 17, it was my birthday last week and Doctor J bought me a car) was parked in my parking space. We used to go to school together so I guess it's her spot as much as mine. I parked next to her and jumped out.

The people who were already coming into the school stared after me as I ran into the school building. I guess it looked weird for me to come to school by myself. I could feel their eyes on me all the way towards the main doors, where my two best friends WuFei and Trowa stood. They both eyed me as I rushed past them into the main building without saying 'Hi'. I guess it was rude but I needed to find Relena quick.

Anyway I only saw them yesterday that's when they heard the news. They told me that they wouldn't tell anyone about...the 'Incident'. Trowa looked rather pleased when I told him. In fact, WuFei looked...Well jealous...But he's a guy!

I shook my head to get rid of the thought. I could think about that later, right now I needed to find Relena before I lost her forever. Though I think I've already lost her. She seemed pretty keen on the bet/deal idea. If we do go through with it, I hope she has the hardest person to pull.

I kept on running as fast as I could down the endless corridors. The school had been cleaned up nicely for the start of the New School Year. The corridors were polished and sparkling clean. The walls had been painted a bright white while all the doors to the classrooms had been painted red with the letter of whichever class it was on the door.

I rounded a corner heading towards our shared locker, when I passed Dorothy, one of Relena's best friends.

"Heero! Nice to Cya. How are you?" She grinned. I ignored her and carried on running. I can't stand her - she's scary. Dorothy has dark brown forked eyebrows, which completely clashes with her blonde hair. I don't know how she has loads of boyfriends but they must be blind! If she weren't such a whore with the boys, I would have thought she was a lesbian. It's just something about the way she looks at other girls. Anyway, if Dorothy was there then Relena can't be far away.

I found her at our shared locker putting in her new stuff. I stopped a few steps behind her; she knew I was there because I could tell by the way she'd just started humming to herself. I glanced up and down the corridor.

"People are getting suspicious you know." I growled. I hated talking first and she knew it. She carried on for moment as if she had ignored what I just said until I realised what she was doing. She wasn't putting stuff into our locker, she was taking stuff out.

"What are you doing?"

"Heero as far as I'm concerned we're not a couple any more." She stated. I felt a twinge inside. She's leaving me. Damn Zechs.

"And anyway if we're doing this deal, bet thingy...Then we have to split up because it just won't work if we're not." She turned to me as she placed the last item that was in our locker in her pink bag. I looked passed her into the locker to see an empty space and a baseball cap I'd worn once last year. God she took up a lot of space.

"I'm going to be sharing a locker with Dorothy. She totally understands what I'm going through, after all Craig cheated on her." She told that blonde bitch about what I did. A laugh tumbled from her pink lips as she smirked. She reached forward and lightly tapped my cheek with her perfectly manicured finger.

"Don't worry Heero," she purred. "She won't tell anyone." I took a deep breath it was now or never if I was going to tell her. The corridors where suddenly filling up with students going to their home rooms as the bell rang.

"Relena I love you." She removed her finger quickly from my cheek after that and swung her bag onto her shoulder

"I'm flattered Heero really but…" She stated turning she slammed the locker door shut. I mentally winced, but I didn't let her see. I don't like to show people my weaknesses. She turned back to me and whispered in my ear. "Maybe if you didn't fuck my brother I would have taken it another way. The bet is still on Yuy and I will win." With that, she was gone. She strolled off down the corridor shaking her booty, getting every male students attention.

I growled. I hate that she has so much power over me. When did I become so weak? I turned back to my locker and opened it. Shoving some of books inside. Having extra space in there seemed so...different. I slammed the locker shut, today was hell, I felt like hitting something just to let all my anger.

I headed for my home room, and would have gotten there in one piece if it weren't for someone crashing into me. He sent me splat on my back onto the floor with him on me. I saw stars for a few moments due to the impact of my head hitting the floor. When they had cleared I looked up to see...The ugliest pair of glasses I've seen in my whole life.

The boy seemed to be in a daze. His...something colour eyes, which were hidden behind those awful glasses had gone wide with shock. I don't know how long we were lying there for. He was a little heavy and I soon found myself running out of air. I kept my gaze on him; it looked like he was slowly lowering his head towards mine. I must be hallucinating from lake of air. Why isn't he getting off me?

"Will you get off me please?" I breathed with my last breath of air. That seemed to snap him out of his daze as he quickly scrambled off me. I went to smooth my shirt out to find a wet patch.

What the fuck! Was he drooling on me? Ew it's sticky... I glared over to the boy who was moving his mouth but nothing was coming out but a string of curses.

"Oooohhh shit... I mean...Shit, Crap" He fell backwards onto his ass and still continued to get away from me. What's wrong with him? Why is he looking at me as if he's seen a ghost? I don't smell as bad as him, at least. What the hell is he wearing? Dungarees...who the hell still wears dungarees in this century?

I realised there was a long wet patch down his top and a bit on his trousers. That explains the wetness. But what the hell is it? I lifted my shirt towards my nose and sniffed...Coke. How the hell has he got Coke all over himself...What a weirdo! Who the hell is he anyway?

"I ii iii." He kept saying the word over and over hysterically as he tried to get to his feet he was starting to annoy me and he ruined my best shirt.

"I ii I'm sorry I..." I rolled my eyes as I got to my feet.

"Just don't do it again freak." I muttered with a glare before brushing past him to get to the boys changing room. I think I left a clean shirt in there from last year. I hope it smells all right. That damn bastard has made me late and on my first day too. I tell you now Heero Yuy is never late. It's not my style. I'm gonna kick his ass if I see him again.

I stormed off down the corridor towards the gym. Casting a glance back over my shoulder I saw he was still sitting in the same place his face now buried into his knees, which were brought up to his chest. His shoulders seemed to be shaking. I bit my lip before turning round and continuing on my way down to the gym.

Once there, I entered and changed quickly into a white shirt. It was a lot better than the now stained blue one. I shoved the shirt into my gym locker before running to my home room. I noticed the boy had gotten up and left by the time I was on my way back. I entered home room and apologized for being so late before taking my seat next to WuFei and Trowa. The whole situation out in the corridor forgotten.

**(Duo POV)**

It is now official. I am now having the worst day of my life. I ran all the way to school, soaked in coke. I thought the day was going to get better once I got to school and I got to the school gates just as the bell rung. So there I was running around the corridors towards my homeroom when I bump into someone really hard and I tell you what it hurt like hell.

Yeah that someone just happened to be Heero Yuy, and I had to freak out. First, I was lying on top of him and I just couldn't move. It was like in one of my dreams. He was staring up at me and I was staring down at him. His eyes seemed to be a deeper blue than ever.

My heart was beating so fast I thought it was going to pop out. What was worse was I was lowering my head towards his as if going for a kiss. The kiss I've been waiting for my whole life. I wanted to stop myself, but I couldn't control it. But then he spoke.

"Will you get off me please?" It sounded as if he was out of breath. It sounded so sexy so... I suddenly snapped and jumped off him as quick as I could the reality of the situation hitting me like a sack of potatoes. What the hell was I doing?! Oh shit (Sorry Father) I got coke on his shirt. I watched him stare emotionless at the stain and then at his fingers.

"Oooohhh shit... I mean...Shit, Crap!" I tried to get up and run away. I knew any minute now I would break down. Oh god what if he hit me? I wouldn't be able to live with myself if he did. Why did the floor have to be so polished and slippy?

Why me?

Why does everything bad happen to me?

I glanced round and found that all my books had flown all over the place. Shit (Sorry Father) this is the most embarrassing thing that's happened to me in my whole life.

What if he hadn't asked me to get off him?

Would I have kissed him?

And it's a Wednesday so I probably smell like shit (Excuse my curses Father but I think I will be saying many for in the years to come). He smells so nice...like vanilla. He's probably just had a shower and that shirt he's smelling is probably just clean from the wash. Shit... shitshitshitshitshitshitshit.

"I ii iii" I tried to speak but I couldn't get the words out. I felt awful. He glanced at me out the corner of his eye and got up from the floor but I continued to babble. I always babble when I'm nervous or embarrassed.

"I ii I'm sorry I..." That's when it all went down hill. He rolled his eyes at me.

"Just don't do it again Freak." He said in that monotonous voice. The word freak seemed to roll of his tongue and stab me in the heart. Just like the day, when he called me a 'Loser' outside of school. I wish I was someone else. I'd even trade places with Relena. Then could be very rich and be the almost Princess of the Sanc. At the moment her Father is running in the election to become the next King of the Sanc. It must be why she is the most popular girl in the school.

My breath hitched as he glared at me before walking past. I felt awful, truly awful. I brought my knees up to my chest and felt myself shaking. Damn, it was turning out to be a very bad day today. Perhaps I didn't pray enough late night...

A few minutes later, I wiped my eyes and picked up all my books from the floor before running to my homeroom. I was late for the millionth time in my life. That was when my day got even worse. Quatre had called in ill. I was all on my own on my first miserable day at school. Great. Just Great.

I'm not always so pessimistic, but at the moment I feel like this is what my life is going to be like forever. Sure, I dream a lot about my prince, but life is not supposed to be a fairytale for some people. I guess I'm one of the few whose life turns out like shit and end up being an alcoholic or dead in a ditch. Those razors in the showers back at the church are starting to look like a great way to end my life not just to keep me sane.

So here I am strolling around my homeroom handing out everyone's new timetable. Why couldn't Quatre be here to help me? We would have done it a lot quicker. I don't like the way everyone keeps staring at me as if I'm a piece of...dirt. Anyway I handed them out as quick as I could while being tripped up a number of times by students as I passed them. You know I often wonder if anyone does know my name. Everyone seems to think its 'Loser', 'Geek' or 'Freak'. I mentally winced. That was the last word My Prince had called me just half an hour ago.

"Hey watch it choir geek!" I heard a yell as I accidentally bumped into a girl as I walking back to my seat, right at the front of the class. All the seats around mine are empty. Quatre normally takes up the one to my right, but the one behind me and to my left are always empty. I don't smell that bad do I?

I looked down at my timetable as I sat in silence. Everyone is so lucky; they have someone to talk to. The room is so noisy I bet everyone is talking. I love to talk to people. Father Maxwell said it was one of my specialties, and once I get started, I never stop. On Sundays, I stand in the confession box in the church and talk to people about their problems. I didn't like the idea at first but it soon became fun. I'd find out loads of interesting gossip about people in school.

Especially that Dorothy girl, Relena's best friend I think. She comes in once a month and confesses every dirty trick she's done in the last month. Last month she slept with over 10 guys. She also mentions fancying someone close to her. Quatre and I think it might be Heero, she's always hanging around Relena and My Prince.

I heard the bell ring while I was lost in my thoughts. Quickly gathering up my stuff I made my way towards my first lesson, which happened to be...English. People rushed down the corridors towards their first lesson, pushing past me as if I wasn't even there. Sometimes I really do think I'm invisible.

"Hey have you heard the news? Relena and Heero have broken up!" My head snapped over towards a group of four girls who where all linking arms to go off to their first lesson. I knew all their names for they were in my year. Katherine, Sally (Relena's other best friend apart from Dorothy), Une and Noin.

Noin has a reputation for going for older men, I found out when she came to confession that she liked her friend's older brother. Zechs I think his name was. Wait a minute... Heero and Relena have...

"Oh my god really? But why?" Katherine cried back, the look of surprise and relief all over her face. I guess she's going to be one of the many others who'll be going after Heero. But I can't believe it I thought the two were inseparable.

"Well Relena has been telling everyone that they are on a break and looking for other people to date." Sally grinned, excitement glittering in her blue eyes. She whipped back a piece of her blonde hair and took a quick look round her friends, "You know what this means?"

"Heero Yuy's going to be single and free to date any girl in this school!" Une smirked. My high dropped at full speed. Any girl. You knew that Maxwell! Like you said Heero Yuy is 110 straight.

"And you know a guy will want anyone when he's on the rebound," Noin added. The four girls giggled as they entered their classroom, all probably planning how they were going to get Heero to fall for them.

I stumbled along miserably to my next class knowing it was going to be boring as hell and...Shit look at the time I'm gonna be fucking late. I broke out into a run and just got there as the last of the students entered. I took a seat right at the front in the left hand corner near the large windows, which looked over the school field and gardens.

"Right class!" There was a loud call over the chattering students. I turned to look around the class. Again, the chair to my right was empty as well as the one behind me. I sighed deeply, taking one last look around the class to see My Prince on the back row with his two best friends on each side of him. He was glaring around at everyone in the classroom. When doesn't he stop glaring? He looks like he's in a bad mood and I've probably got something to do with it

"We're starting a new project today, it will take Month to complete." Mr. Kushrinarder, my new English teacher explained. He ran a hand though his sandy coloured hair before holding up a pile of papers. "Will you hand these out for me Duo?"

I mentally winced, there were a few coughs around the room that sounded a lot like 'Geek' or 'Freak'. I nodded my head quickly and hastily jumped out my seat to get the sheets from his hands. I travelled around the classroom as quick possible as he continued to talk.

"As I said this project will take a month to complete. I've split the class up into groups of two and I have decided on who will do which part of the project, I will read the groups off after I have explained." Trieze glanced down at his sheet. "First, let me start off with what it's called and what it's about. Principle Jennings and myself have spent many hours designing this project and what we want to achieve out of it. The name is 'The Life of a Teenager'."

I looked elsewhere as I handed Heero a piece of paper and carried along the row. Handing out the second last sheet I quickly returned to my seat where I kept the last one for myself. I pushed my glasses up properly and gave Trieze my full attention.

"Now as this is a new project that nobody has ever done before it took a lot of planning and preparation. Part of which was to phone up each of your parents to sort out a room for your partner for this project." At this statement there was a surprised gasp around the room. Great, I'm going to have to work with someone I get picked on by, and put up with them for a month.

"I guess your wondering why they didn't tell you. Well we told them to keep it a secret." Trieze smiled faintly. "The idea of the project if for you to produce a portfolio diary of the others life. You will be placed in teams of two. One person out of your teams will be staying at the others house and will have to keep a diary of the others activities. Other tasks involved are to find out about the persons past and how they got to their current positions today. You will get marked on how much research is put into your findings e.g. Family Trees etc… You will then have to produce the findings in a portfolio and a present a presentation at the end of the project which is…" Trieze glanced down at his paper again "Friday the 5th of October." With that Trieze went to the board and wrote up the date. A second later, he turned back to the class.

"All papers have to be handed in by then." He smiled before glancing at each students face. "The aim of this exercise is to analyse the way you can collect and deliver information. Therefore your writing skills, evidence and presentational skills will be marked on. The over all project is marked out of 100. Any questions...Yes you there."

"I was wondering," I turned around in my seat to see Relena beaming at the teacher. I noticed she was wearing her tartest clothes today. "What types of things do we have to write about?"

"Well." Trieze sat back down on the edge of his desk. "Really it's what they get up to in the hours after school. Oh by the way, I want nothing to do with school in the project. This project is all about teenage life outside of school, you need to find out about what they like, what are their hobbies, their dreams…Does everyone understand?"

I nodded mutely. What I'm I going to do if someone asks about what I get up to?

"...Next?"

One of Heero's best friends raised his hand. I believe his name is Chang WuFei. He's the only other person apart from Q who calls me by my proper name...Even though it's just my last name.

"What does the other student do while the other is doing all the work?" His voice seemed to be calm today, normally you can tell he's worked up over something by the tone of his voice.

"Oh yes I forgot to explain that part," Trieze blushed slightly and looked at his sheet. "The other pupil must write a portfolio about the other. For example how well they did living in a different environment from their own or if he or she is co-operative or if they help out while they are staying at the other's home...Does that explain it to you Mr. WuFei?"

"Yes Sir."

"Any more questions?" No one else raised his or her hands. I sat back in my seat and waited for my doom. The list seemed to go on forever in my account. A girl nearly fainted when she found she was paired off with WuFei. While another screamed when she found, Trowa Barton, Heero's other best friend who has the weirdest hairstyle of the century, was working with her. I wish Trieze would pair me up with Heero. I think I'd die if I were paired up with him really.

"Oh dear Quatre isn't here today," Trieze sighed. "Miss Relena I think you'll have to call around to his house after school so you can fill him in with all the details." Looks like Quatre's in for a hard month. I'd hate to stay in the same house with her. There was a snigger from the back row, which came out of the direction Heero was sat in.

"Heero Yuy..." The class went silent. I think I could hear some girls chanting under their breath - 'Please me, Oh God please me.' Trieze suddenly spoke up.

"You're going to be accessing the life of Duo Maxwell at the Maxwell church...Jason you're..." Oh my God...Did I just hear that right. I swivelled round in my seat to take a glance at My Prince, to see him staring at nothing as if he'd seen a ghost. Damn, I guess he took the news bad. My heart sank. There really is no hope for me. A few seats in front of him Relena looked like she was about to burst out into hysterical laughter. Am I really that bad company?

**TBC...**


	4. Quatre's Doom

**Chapter 4**

**Quatre's Doom**

**(Heero POV)**

Duo...Maxwell...I have to get that...freak that fell on top of me in the corridor to fall in love with me? For starters, he's a GUY, second of all he's ugly. I mean look at his glasses and that hat! I wouldn't of known whom he was if he hadn't bumped into me this morning.

I sat still in my seat. I could hear Relena giggling to herself a few seats in front of me. She was going to win, and she knew it. She got that blonde kid who is a little more popular than Duo...There is no way in hell I'm gonna get him to fall in love with me let alone have sex with him. The boy has probably never even heard of sex!

The bell rang through the classroom as Trieze finished off explaining what we had to do in fullest detail so we got everything perfect. Oh why in hell did I sleep with Zechs?!

"Heero you coming?" WuFei asked. I snapped out of my thoughts to see him standing in front of my desk with his bag swung over one shoulder. He had a slight smirk on his face. I could tell he was thinking my whole situation was the most humorous thing he'd be seeing over the next two weeks.

I nodded my head dumbly and slowly got out my seat. Everyone had already gone for their break. I grabbed my bag off the floor and slowly followed Trowa and WuFei out the classroom.

As soon as we had left, a group of 10 girls surrounded us, fussing over me and my break-up with the 'Princess' of Sanc. It's a shame I won't be going for any of them, they are girls after all and I'm straight...110.

"Oh Heero you must be feeling awful!" Sally cried hanging onto my arm.

"Are you feeling OK? Do you want me to help you with your things Heero?" Une, another of Relena's friends asked while fluttering her dark eyelashes.

"Sorry onna's! Heero needs his space at the moment!" WuFei called over the top of the girls "So could you all move your skinny ass's out the way!"

"Hey don't talk to me like that Chang WuFei!" Sally turned to my Chinese friend. "If I weren't so upset over Relena and Heero's break up at the moment I'd kick your ass back to China town!"

"Yes ma'am," WuFei seemed a little set back for a minute before taking a firm grip of my elbow, "We're out of here Yuy." Turning to Trowa he nodded, "Lead the way Barton...You Onna's better not follow us!"

"No of course not, if Heero needs his space then we'll give him some." Another girl replied sweetly.

We all rolled our eyes and turned our backs to the girls. Trowa pushed passed the circle of girls and led us towards the school field. We headed straight for our tree in the left hand corner of the school field in silence. Everyone knows it's our tree, we've even carved our names on it and this time there were a few freshmen sitting around it.

Its weird, everyone knows who I am even if I've never seen them before. The freshmen took one look at me as WuFei explained it was our tree and moved straight away, apologising to me. They almost looked scared.

WuFei snorted as he dropped to the ground and ran a hand over his tight ponytail to see if every strand of his black hair was tied back. I swiped my forehead and dropped my bag to my feet before opening another two buttons on my white shirt. It was a hot day and there seemed to be no clouds in the brilliant blue sky.

Taking my seat next to Trowa, I lend back onto the grass leaning my head on my bag. Closing my eyes to relax I started to think over my currently very bad situation. Suddenly I heard some laughter come from the direction of WuFei. I opened one eye and glared at the Chinese boy who was doubling over in laughter. Hn. At least Trowa had the decency to hold in his laughter until I'm not around to hear it. If WuFei wasn't such a good friend, I'd kick his ass all over this fucking field.

"Omae o Korosu"

"Oh come on you've got to admit the whole situation is humorous!" He chuckled; I scowled and moodily snapped my head in the other direction, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Hn. Shut up"

"Make me."

"WuFei leave it be, Heero's obviously upset over this." Trowa spoke up. I think I like Trowa better than WuFei. Trowa is always the understanding one.

"So would I if I had to fuck the biggest Loser in School!"

"WuFei!" There was silence as the Chinese boy tried to calm down. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath of air to calm myself down before I swung at the guy when suddenly he spoke again.

"I mean Maxwell..." He doubled over laughing again. I hate him. I really hate him. I gave him my best glare, even that didn't shut him up. He wrapped one arm round his stomach as he doubled over, tears streaming down his face. I'll hit him in a minute if he doesn't shut that mouth of his.

"WuFei, if you don't shut up I'll call Sally over to shut you up." The Chinese boy stared at Trowa in shock and terror, while the other glared.

"You wouldn't!" He cried, pure horror showing all over his face. He shivered in his seat.

"I would." Trowa replied with a slight amused grin on his face. Trowa always brought up Sally when he really wanted WuFei to shut up. Last New Year, WuFei and Sally had gotten very drunk and slept together, now the girl acts like his mother. Making sure that if he is ill or has a cold, he has a hanky to wipe his nose on or if anyone is trying to start a fight with him she'd step in and have a go at them, even though she threatens to beat him up herself. The fact is, if Trowa or I said WuFei was doing something wrong to Sally she'd shape him up in no time. WuFei shuddered.

"Sorry Yuy."

"Hn. I sure damn think so." I nodded, satisfied and closed my eyes again to let the warm breeze wash over me.

"I went to a cool club last night." Trowa's soft voice travelled to my ears.

"Oh yea? Which one? I'm sure I've been there before." WuFei replied smugly

"Its over near the dock." Trowa informed, pulling off his white Nike jacket and folding it to one side. "Its in an alleyway in East End Street."

"You went to East End Street?" I enquired opening my eyes to spare Trowa a glance. He blushed slightly. East End Street was known for where all the whores hung out on the corners. Where all the homeless lived on the streets, where gangs hung out and did drugs. The place for the poor.

"Why did you go there?"

"Well..." Trowa's face was turning redder and I could see a smirk forming on WuFei's face "I went with a friend of Catherine's." He finished off very quickly, WuFei shuffled a little bit towards Trowa.

"And...What was the club like? What was it called? Come on clown boy spill it!" He cried. I lifted my head up a little bit to get a better view. Trowa was turning red.

"Ermm...Well we only stayed there for a few minutes," He told us. "The place was packed and full of life, it sure was a nice place to go." I snorted at the comment. No where is nice to go to in the South of the Sanc.

"Anyway" Trowa carried on ignoring my interruption. "We stayed and had a few pints before walking back to my house, that's it."

"That's it!" WuFei copied in a Trowa like voice. "That's it...Trowa by the look on your face I would have thought you'd seen some pornographic show." The only visible eye of Trowa's widened slightly before he shook his head.

"I want to take you both there." He glanced at us both, "There's a show on Saturday night, I want to see what its like. Would you both like to come with me?" There was silence before any of us spoke. South Sanc is horrific however Trowa does have good taste and I suppose if no one caught us there...

"Hn. Sure." I lay back down and closed by eyes as WuFei nodded his head.

"Sure, where and when shall we meet?" He asked.

"Well the both of you can sleep over my house, so we'll meet up Saturday morning as usual." Trowa replied.

"No can do mate you know the rules of the of the English Project – We have to stay at our partners house – no sleep overs" WuFei drawled

"Whatever then I'll drop you off..." I yawned to myself and turned onto my side away from my two best friends who had started a conversation up about clubs. I could faintly hear WuFei telling Trowa about the injustice of things in clubs as I thought about my problem. How the hell was I going to get Maxwell. A Boy. To fall in love with me? I bet he doesn't even know what the word sex means. I drifted off thinking over the possible things I could do.

The next thing I knew, Trowa was shaking me awake, as it was the end of break. We all rushed to our next class quickly which was Science and were in our seats just as the teacher came in. WuFei and Trowa were still going on about different clubs as we walked in.

Relena gave us a smirk as she walked in and sat in front of us. I hate this. It hurts seeing her hate me so much, but I dared not show it on the outside. So far, everyone thought I was taking the break-up quite well. Trowa sat next to me with WuFei on the other table next to ours.

The lesson started, so I deciding to keep my mind off things I concentrated on what the teacher was saying. The whole first 30 minutes of the lesson consisted off the teacher going over what type of rocks there were. Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic. Simple. It was pretty boring; we did all this last year.

"Right kids do as much as you can on these sheets by filling in the missing words." I glanced down at my sheet as it was handed to me. All the questions seemed simple enough.

Suddenly a piece of paper fluttered down onto my question sheet. Looking up, I caught Relena's gaze for a second before she turned around again. The whole classroom filled up with chatter as everyone started their work. Glancing out of the corner of my eye I made sure Trowa and WuFei weren't looking at the note. Luckily, the two of them had continued with their conversation about clubs in Sanc. Opening the note, I scanned down the small letter in side and scowled. Written in pink was...

Dear Heero,  
Lets change the bet to the first who can lay there chosen partner, I'm sure you'd love to have sex with Choir Geek Duo Maxwell, after all he is a guy. I know how you prefer men.

Relena XXXX

Quickly scribbling something down and I chucked it back. It bounced off her back and onto the floor. Quickly turning around, she picked the note up off the floor and began to read it.

Relena,

Stop messing with me, the bet sticks as it is.

Heero

The note came floating back down onto my table a few minutes later with a new message written underneath mine in neat hand writing.

Dear Heero,

I just thought it would be more of a challenge but, whatever, I'll do whatever you want. After all this is your entire fault. I will win you Heero no matter what. Then the sad little truth about your little romp with Millardo will come out. Then guess what your rep will be ruined forever.

Love Relena XXXX

My fault!? How many times did you cheat on me, remember your rep will be ruined if that got out.

Heero

Dear Heero

Yes but my darling Ex- boyfriend I didn't sleep with a load of girls. Do you know there is not one gay guy in this school. Not One! Have fun trying to get Maxwell to fall in love with you and good luck because you are going to need all the luck you can get.

Relena XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I snarled and stuffed the note into my trouser pocket intending to throw it away later, it needed to be destroyed. I could hear a giggle from Relena as she whispered to Dorothy. I snarled again and went back to my work intending to get through the lesson without any more messages or disruptions from Relena Peacecraft.

**(Duo POV)**

I'm a nervous wreck. It's 3:30pm and school's just finished. We were told at the end of English that our partner would be around our house at 6:00pm. So I have 2 ½ hours to go to Quatre's and tell him the bad news about him working with Relena, before rushing home and getting my room and the guest room cleaned up as much as possible. I still can't believe this is happening.

I jogged as fast as I could down Quatre's street towards his house. Of course his has to be the biggest house in all of Sanc. All the houses down the street where Quatre lives are massive, but Quatre's house is the biggest...I think unless Relena's is a little bigger after all her father is the soon to be King of the Sanc after the election... Also I think Heero lives somewhere down here.

I stopped outside a large white house and opened their large golden gates. If I hadn't of asked Quatre if they were real gold I wouldn't have known they where fake. The gates where just painted in this shiny paint, which seemed to fool a load of people to believe it was real gold. I rang the doorbell and took a step back. The faint sound of some classical music played by a piano and a violin, wafted though a nearby open window and into the gardens. I could tell it was Quatre playing one of the instruments. He has a certain style.

Sometimes when he comes around to the church, which isn't that often. As his father doesn't like me anyway he plays the violin while I play the church organ. We do this to calm ourselves down. It helps a lot. Actually, I think I might have a go when I get back to the church.

Did I tell you I play the organ for the church on Sundays; I'm actually quiet good at it. It also helps me to make up songs to sing and dance to at my club. Yep that's right, I write my own songs and everyone says I'm pretty good. I guess I won't be having much practice since Heero's going to be around for a whole month. Damn. How am I going to hide my secret identity from him? He'll want to know my past...

"Master Duo, how may I help you?" A deep voice brought me from my sudden terror. Shit. I feel like crying or running away and never returning. I tilted my head up to meet the gaze of the tallest man I've ever met. Rashid, Quatre's butler/bodyguard. The guy's pretty cool and helps me sneak in to see Quatre when his dads around.

"Hey Rashid is Q around? I've got some important news," I asked politely. Rashid smiled slightly and nodded. He moved to one side as a signal for me to enter the mansion. I quickly entered and waited as Rashid closed the door behind him.

"I'll just go and get him for you." With that he bowed and left through one of the many doors in Quatre's hall. The hall of Quatre's house is massive. Every month or so, his father holds balls and parties in the hall. This is because there is a lot of space for couple to dance round the room without bumping into each other. I believe Quatre has told me Relena and Heero often attend them, but he always keeps out of their way. Quatre once asked me to attend to one of these parties with him...But his father didn't like it saying that a Dirty Southy wasn't aloud near their house. Yeah the rich and famous in the North of the Sanc hate the people in the South. That's probably why I'm so badly picked on at school. I'm one of a few who are from the South of the Sanc who attends to a North Sanc school. I think they felt guilty to turn away an orphan. Anyway Q's seems to think that if he hangs round with a poor orphan like me, he'd get into a bad crowd. Bastard – Sorry Father. I'd love to be able to dance around Quatre's hall and show off my talent.

The room itself reminded me of the ball out of 'Cinderella'. The walls are painted such a brilliant white that I thought the first time I entered the hall I'd have to wear sunglasses. On each side of the room, there are three pink and cream marble pillars and in the middle is a large staircase, which splits into two at the top and leads up to a gallery landing. The ceiling of the hall has been painted exactly like the ceiling in the Sistine chapel painted by Michael Angelo. I remember Quatre telling me about it once that it took over a year to be painted and by 50 men. I could only guess that it cost a very substantial amount of money, but then again that amount of money to the Winner's is nothing. The floor is the same as the pillars. The tiles are swirls of pink and cream and are amazing to look at.

"Duo!" There was a call from the door Rashid had left through. I turned and put on a large grin as Quatre came running up to me dressed in a pair of designer white trousers and a designer pink shirt, probably 'Ted Baker'. When we go out into town Quatre always takes his time looking at the 'Ted Baker' clothes. The assistants in the shop don't like me going in there. I can see the looks they give me when I enter with Quatre. The first time I entered, they asked me to leave. It reminded me of a film I saw at Quatre's once called 'Pretty Woman'.

It was the most horrible feeling in the world; I'm just like everyone else so why couldn't I stay in their shop? Can remember feeling tears in my eyes as I turned and ran. Like I always do. Quatre threatened to sue their company and make sure the assistants never worked in their whole miserable lives again if they ever said anything like that to me again. I only returned to the shop once more before I couldn't take it. Now I always wait outside or in the McDonald's nearby as Quatre shops in there. I don't buy anything though so normally I end up getting chucked out of McDonald's too and standing outside the 'Ted Baker' shop waiting for Q. Embarrassing, I know.

Quatre stopped in front of me and gave me the biggest bear hug I've had in my whole life. I hope I haven't crinkled his shirt.

"Ah Q I need to breathe!" I choked out; he instantly let go and stepped back. A blush covering most of his face making him look rather cute. He ran a hand through his gelled down blonde hair. He usual doesn't have it gelled down, it's only when he has it first cut. Which was probably today.

"Duo have you been rolling in...Coke?" He asked suddenly, it was my turn to blush. I'd smelt of it all day and I had to go to the boys to wash my sticky face. My shirt was just as sticky but there is nothing I can do about that until the next time I get my clothes washed, which is on Sunday night. I'm actually quite lucky, many of my clothes are donated to the church and they're too big for the other children. I'm the oldest kid still living at the church. Well I'm not a kid any more.

"No...I just had an accident on the way to school today." I murmured fiddling with the end of my granny jumper sleeve. "I've had a really bad day today Q." Quatre seemed to understand and took me by the elbow as he led me towards the stairs.

"We'll talk about this upstairs." He glanced towards where Rashid was standing by the door, "I'm sorry I wasn't at school today Duo." He sighed.

"It's OK, I just asked for extra homework from the teachers to do at lunch time in the library." I answered making me think how sad life has gotten. I don't have any other people to hang out with so I just bury myself in a load of work. I saw a brief sad look on Quatre's face before the blonde turned to me with a smile.

"Anyway how you feeling Quatre?" I asked pushing my glasses further up my nose as we reached the top of the stairs. From the top, there is an enormous drop to the marble tiles below and at the moment we're at level with the large chandelier, which needed a flame-thrower to be lit up. I've seen it lit up once when I was just leaving Quatre's room before his father's party. Well actually, I was being escorted out; I told you his father didn't like me.

"I'm feeling just fine, I had a cold a couple of days ago but I think I've totally recovered now. My father insisted that I took the day off to get myself back to 100." He smiled. "Rashid told me you had some important news to tell me."

"Yes, I hope I didn't interrupt anything I heard you playing from the doorstep."

"Oh no, I was just practising for fun." He smiled. "Anyhow, what's the news about?"

"It's about our new English project," We turned down a long corridor leading to Quatre's room.

"Oh yes" Quatre opened a large oak door to his room and we both entered. I've always loved Quatre's room. Its walls have been painted a light blue while its floor and ceiling are black. When I last came over, Quatre had bought some glow in the dark stars and I'd slept over without anyone knowing, to have a look at them.

Quatre plonked himself down on his large four-poster bed before turning to me. Light shimmered into the room from a large window over the other side of the room from the door.

"So?" It was Quatre's voice, which brought me out of my thoughts. I turned to close the door before jumping on the bed next to him.

"I'm afraid its bad news Q." I sighed; it's very bad news. Working with Relena Peacecraft and letting her stay in your house would drive me to suicide. "You're working with Relena on our new project and she'll be arriving at your house in about half an hour."

Quatre seemed to be in shock for a couple of seconds before he shook his head and gave out a bright smile.

"I'm sure I can cope with Relena staying at my house for..." He turned to me. "How long, and what's the project about?"

"I think she might be explaining that to you." I replied as I lay my head back on his soft pillows, "She's going to be staying with you for a month Q." There was another pause; I took a quick glance at Quatre to see that his face had paled. Poor guy, I suppose Relena's about the worst partner you can have on this project. I bet she'll be bugging Quatre all the way through it, "You alright Q?"

"Oh!" Quatre shook himself from his thoughts and turned to me. "Yes...Yes I'm fine, I just feel slightly faint."

"Crap!" I jumped off his bed and let him lay down for a few minutes before glancing at my watch, which I'd been given by Sister Helen for my last birthday. There is a story behind it but I'll tell you about it later and besides I need to get going in a minute or so.

"So are you going to tell me why your day was so rubbish?" He asked from the bed. I nodded silently. I didn't really want to tell Quatre about all the embarrassment I'd been through today, but he is my best friend and we always tell each other everything. His face had a frown on it all the way through and by the time I'd finished telling him that I'd bumped into Heero he pulled me into his arms and hugged me hard again.

"It's alright Duo, it'll be over and forgotten in a few days," He said pulling a little away from me. I sat on the side of his bed with my head bowed.

"There is another thing." I sighed, "I have to work with him for this new English project." I gulped, "I don't know what to do Quatre, I feel so embarrassed and scared at the same time. He's supposed to be around the church by 6 and it's..." I looked down at my watch again to see it was 4. Shit.

"Q I need to go!" I cried jumping up from my place on the bed. Quatre also glancing at his watch nodded.

"Yes I'll see you later Duo." He called as I ran towards his bedroom door. I waved goodbye as I exited and ran down the stairs and out of the house. I needed to get home and get everything tidy before My Prince, I mean Heero, came. Also I had to tell the children to behave, which they probably won't. I doubt if there's going to be time to calm down my nerves by playing the church organ before he gets there.

**TBC...**


	5. Dinner with Trowa Barton?

**Chapter 5**

**Dinner with Trowa Barton?**

**(Quatre POV)**

Poor Duo. I can feel his distress running straight through my body like an electric current. I should have gone to school today. If I had maybe, none of his suffering would have happened. He wouldn't of had to bury himself in a load of work just to keep himself busy and now he has a load of stress on his shoulders because his crush is coming to stay for the week.

I pulled myself off my bed and strolled over to my bedroom window. It was a beautiful day, birds were singing and a few wild rabbits were running around my garden. I sat myself on the window seat and pushed open the window. Warm air wafted through washing over me like a wave. I sighed in pleasure. I guess if Relena's coming, this'll be the last time I'll have a bit of peace for a week or so.

A month with Relena Peacecraft is going to be hard, but I suppose Mr. Kushrenada might have chosen me for a reason. I don't think many people would be able to stand Relena staying in their household for over a week. I kind of feel sorry for her family.

I suppose I'll have to buy a bunch of flowers for her for when she arrives, just to be polite. I sighed and got up from my seat. Duo said she'd be here in about half an hour, which will give me just enough time to get down to the local supermarket to get her a bunch. I ran down the stairs and over to Rashid who was standing guard by the front door.

"Master Duo left in quiet a hurry Master Quatre." The tall guard commented as I slowly came to a stop in front of him, "Is there something wrong?"

"Oh no, he had something to attend to. Now I must get down to the Supermarket, would you mind driving me down there Rashid?" I asked sweetly. Rashid nodded at once; after all, it is his job to do whatever I say.

A few minutes later, I was in the back of my small blue BMW. I chose this car because I didn't want loads of people running up to my window and trying to see who was inside. That happens quiet a lot when I go around in my limo. Rashid stopped the car inside the local supermarket parking lot. He went to open his door to escort me around the supermarket but I stopped him.

"Rashid please could you wait in the car while I go into the shop. It would mean a lot to me." I pleaded. I saw a look of discomfort on his face as he replied, "Your father wouldn't want you to be out on your own, I would advise you to let me accompany you."

"Please Rashid, I wont be a couple of minutes. I'm only going in to get a bunch of flowers. Besides if you came in with me it would take too long as the assistants will make sure the store is empty before I walk inside." Rashid took a deep breathe in and out before nodding his head.

"Master Quatre, I will, but if your not out in 10 minutes I'll come in looking for you." I nodded in understanding and opened the car door. I could feel his eyes on me all the way up to the entrance of the supermarket. He didn't have to be tense all the time after all who wanted to kill me?

My father's only wealthy because of his business; it isn't as if I am the Prince of the country. Sanc at the moment doesn't possess a King or Queen. We have a President who is of course Mr. Peacecraft, who nicknamed himself the 'King of Sanc'. When I was very young there was a Civil war within the Sanc between the South (The Tory Party) and the North (The Peacecraft Party) . The war ended with the horrendous death of the Royal Family who got caught up in the lies of the Media propaganda within the South. They were all murdered by a mad, murderous killer named Oberi Mansfield. He has now been imprisoned even though it took the cops a few years to catch him! Since the deaths of the Royal Family the Sanc has kinda split into 3 sections. The North, The South and the Centre. The South and North still hate each other however through the help of the Centre they came to a truce. There is however, still a lot of anger from bloodshed and lies that still stand between the two. The main reason Duo gets picked on at School and why my Father doesn't like him is the fact that he is from the South. Anyhow, it has now been many years since the death of the Royal Family and now elections are being held over who is going to be the new King/Queen of the Sanc. In leading position at the moment is Relena's Father Mr. Peacecraft who was at the start of the whole mess. I'm guessing the only reason Relena has been elected as my English partner is the fact that my family is rich and famous. Great.

I stepped into the supermarket glad to feel the weight of Rashid's gaze off my back. Now where are the flowers? Normally they are placed somewhere by the entrance. I spotted them over by the fruits. There were a lot of beautiful bunches of Roses, Lilies, Sunflowers some costing up to $30. I reached up to pick a large bunch of red and yellow Roses. The end was dripping wet as all the flowers where placed in buckets filled nearly up to the top with freezing water.

Suddenly there was a shout from behind me.

"GET HIM!!!" I turned round just as two bodies came crashing into me knocking the wind out of me and sending me flying into the display of flowers and buckets. That's when everything went black.

"Is he breathing?" A voice fluttered round me

"I think he's alright now, have you got a blanket?"

"Yes in my car I'll go and get it."

"OK I'll stay here." I opened my eyes to meet a pair of beautiful green eyes. Well not a pair, one was covered by hair. Anyway, the one, which I could see, seemed to be twinkling in the slight light that was coming from somewhere.

"Hey there," The person spoke, his voice quiet and very masculine. "Are you alright...Quatre is it?"

"..." I blinked a couple of times and looked up at the boy his head seemed to be surrounded by a blaze of light. My heart stopped, am I dead? The boy chuckled.

"No you're not dead." Opps I was thinking aloud? "You just had a nasty fall when you were looking for some flowers." I took another look at the boy, that was when I realised who he was. Trowa Barton. "Are you alright you look a bit flushed." He pressed his hand against my forehead. "And you have a temperature, you weren't at school today were you?"

I opened my mouth to talk but I couldn't say anything. I bet I looked like a fish; my mouth kept closing and opening. I shook my head. Finally, I was able to choke something out.

"Wh...what happened?" I turned to my left to see about 20 wooden buckets all turned over and water everywhere.

"Well..." Trowa started, why is he sort of lying on top of me? I turned all my attention to him a slight blush crossing my face. At least he thought it was because I was ill "Someone was robbing the store and I went to grab him and we both crashed into you...I'm sorry I hurt you."

"Oh..." I suddenly felt very cold as I realised I was soaked to the skin.

"You were soaked when the buckets fell on you, unluckily one rather large bucket landed on your head and knocked you out." Trowa explained. "I was told to stay with you as the employees ushered everyone out of the supermarket"

"Did you catch the robber?" I asked, hopefully he did so I didn't get knocked out for nothing.

"Yes, luckily." Trowa smiled slightly, "The police came and took him away a few minutes ago."

Suddenly something occurred to me. Rashid, where is he? Is he outside in the car park still? Oh god, I won't be allowed to go anywhere ever again. Have I mentioned Trowa has the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen?

"Ermm...I sort of have someone waiting for me in the..."

"A big dude with brown hair?"

"...Yeah..."

"He's getting you a blanket out of your car. He should be back in a couple of minutes if the crowds haven't died down."

"Crowds?" I gasped – Oh fuck my Father won't like this one bit.

"Yeah - when everyone was taken out of the supermarket, people started to come over and see what was happening. I think there's still a lot of people out there, and a few reporters."

"Oh Shhhiiitt!" I cried, "I should never have thought of coming in here without Rashid. What was I thinking, now my father's going to be mad and I'm not going to be allowed out for a month and I won't be able to go anywhere without a bodyguard or..."

"Hey calm down!" Trowa cut in sharply. I shut up instantly.

"Sorry..." I sighed slightly disappointed.

"There's no need to be sorry." Trowa answered abruptly, "I'm the one who should be sorry for knocking you over."

"No you did what you had to do to save the day." I sighed, "I was just in the way, you don't need to be sorry." I looked up and got locked in a gaze with him. He was giving off such a happy energy, I could feel it radiating onto my body from where he was sort of lying on me. His green eyes twinkled.

"Are you getting warmer?" He asked unexpectedly after sometime in silence. I suddenly realised what he was doing...Trying to keep me warm.

"Yes, a little." I murmured, he shifted slightly and rubbed my goose pimpled arms causing me to blush. A smirk crossed his face, which caused my heart to do a double back flip. His hands caressed my arms for a minute before I couldn't stand the silence.

"Errrr...how...how long...was I...err out for?" I asked feeling my cheeks burn up as I turning away.

"For about 15 minutes. Would you like to go out for dinner tonight?"

"What?" My head snapped back towards him. Is Trowa Barton asking me out? But I'm a guy...He's a guy... "...Did...You just ask me out?"

"It sure did sound like that." Trowa replied a little worried.

"But you're a guy...I" I stuttered. Trowa was asking me out, did that mean he was gay? Shit. Shit.

"Oh..." He started to say something but I cut him off.

"What...why?" I was gaping like a fish again and I can just guess my face is as red as a beetroot at the moment. I can't believe he's just asked me out. Trowa Barton's asked me, Quatre Winner, out.

"I guess it's to say I'm sorry." Trowa answered, to say sorry, my heart dropped. He only wanted to say sorry. Though going out to have dinner with Trowa Barton would be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

"OK" I whispered.

"Pardon?"

"Yes!" I said louder. "Yes I will go to dinner with you Trowa."

A large smile spread across his face. I don't think I've ever seen a smile on his face before. More happy energy radiated off him and onto me. I guess since, I'm making him happy that's enough for me. His green eyes sparkled and stared at me.

"Great, there's a new restaurant just opening out of town. How about I pick you up around 7?" I nodded my head; I don't think I've heard him talk this much either. I thought he was the quiet one of the popular trio. I was going to dinner with Trowa Barton. Trowa Barton!

"Trowa!" There was a cry from over by one of the entrance. Trowa's head snapped up and instantly the glittering in his eyes had gone, and so had the smile. Catherine, one of Relena's friends and Trowa's twin sister came running over. Her brown hair bouncing as she ran. Behind her Rashid entered the building carrying a blanket in his left hand.

"Kathy." He answered his voice monotonous. He instantly moved off me and stood.

"Oh god I thought something really bad had happened to you when the police rang. Are you alright?" She asked giving him a bear hug. He slowly lifted his long arms and gently wrapped them round her. While watching the two I hadn't noticed Rashid had knelt on the floor next to me.

"I'm fine, Quatre just got knocked out and I volunteered to look after him," Trowa informed glancing down at me as I suddenly had a red blanket shoved angrily into my face.

"Are you hurting anywhere Master Quatre?" Rashid asked a little annoyed.

"No..." I turned to my servant and bowed my head "I'm sorry I should have listened to what you'd said. I will never miss judge your judgement ever again, I'm very sorry and I will tell my father it is all my fault...as it is." I took a glance up towards Trowa, who had his green eyes on me.

"Thank you Master Quatre." Rashid pulled me to my feet and wrapped the large blanket round my shoulders before turning to Trowa, "Thank you for your help Master Trowa."

"It's no problem." Trowa answered, his eyes never leaving my face; I felt my cheeks burning up again. God why am I feeling like this? I've never felt like this around him before.

"We'd better get going Master Quatre a lady named Relena Peacecraft arrived at your house 10 minutes ago, one of your sisters rang and told me." Oh God Relena, I completely forgot about her and the project.

"Oh yes!" I cried, "We'd better go! Thank you for your help Trowa, bye." He nodded and murmured a goodbye. I turned towards the exit with Rashid before taking one last glance over my shoulder at the boy I'd be having dinner with night. I found that he still had his eyes on me as his sister began to demand answers on what had happened. My heart did a flip as he smiled slightly.

Rashid pushed open the supermarkets door. Luckily, the crowds had died down and we we're able to push through without much trouble and get back to the mansion by 5. Rashid and I entered the mansion, taking my coat he went to hang it up, that's when I was attacked by a pink blur.

"Oh Quatre what happened I was soooo worried you weren't here when I arrived!" She cried, "What happened to your divine clothes, lets go to your room so you can tell me all about it!"

Has she been hit on the head? Or am I hallucinating?

(**Heero POV)**

'There's not one gay guy in this school.'

It was a simple statement and I knew it was true. My reputation will be ruined and she knows it but still her meanness is driving me even more crazy and I want her back. I love her and she's mine. I just had to win the deal to get her back. All afternoon after football, I spent packing my stuff. Clothes which I thought and have been told I look sexy in. Hell to get a guy I'd have to look as sexy as I can. Damn Zechs.

I pulled up outside the Maxwell church. Not only will I have to put up with Duo but also I'll have to put up with all the children in the orphanage. I turned the engine off and looked up at the large church. It had a large tower on the west side, which probably contained the bells. It was built of large dark grey stones giving the building an eerie, medieval look. Green Ivy grew up the colossal walls while flower beds were filled with colourful pansies and other flowers. As much as the building looked great, the grass needed mowing.

I stepped out of my Black Skyline R33 and as slowly as I could. Walking to the other side of the car I grabbed my suitcase out of the trunk. I could hear a few childish screams coming from round the back of the church making me grimace. I hate this. I don't want to go in there.

"Heero you've finally arrived!" Someone called. My head snapped towards the noise to see a Nun walking towards me holding a little girls hand. The Nun was wearing, of course, a Nun's outfit and while the little girl had a chubby little face and large green eyes. She was dressed in a yellow sun dress. Her big blue eyes seemed to look at me in horror and as the two came to a stop in front of me. The girl turned and hid behind the Nun. "Now, now don't be rude, Lily say hello to Mr. Yuy."

The girl shook her head and moved further behind the Nun so she couldn't see me. The Nun frowned slightly before shrugging her shoulder.

"Strange, looks like she's being a little shy today." She told before holding out a hand. "My name is Sister Helen, I was the one who spoke with your guardian to arrange your stay."

"Hn." I nodded in acknowledgement and took her hand. So she was to blame for all this. She smiled warmly at me before glancing into the trunk of my car.

"Would you like me to help you with your things?" She asked.

"No thank you, I think I can manage the load by myself" She nodded turning to the little girl behind her.

"Would you go and tell Father Maxwell that Heero has arrived, Lily?" I saw the girl nod eagerly as she ran off in the direction of the church as I heaved my two suitcases out the trunk of my car before slamming it shut. I turned to Sister Helen who was looking me up at down as if checking me out. I mean that's just wrong, she's a Nun and she's old. I raised an eyebrow.

"What are you looking at?" I asked trying to keep a growl of annoyance out of my voice.

"Oh nothing!" She jumped slightly before putting on a friendly smile. "Let me show you to your room." She turned and said over her shoulder, "Follow me, I'll tell you now your stay at the Maxwell Church will be an eventful one, which you'll never forget!"

"I'm sure it will," I murmured sarcastically, too quietly for her to hear.

I followed her all the way to the side of the church and down a few steps in the back garden to where there was a small house. The screaming of playing children had become louder now and I could see there was a match of baseball being played over in the graveyard. Why are they playing the graveyard anyway?

Sister Helen hadn't stopped talking all the way up to my room. Luckly it was away from all the children's dorm rooms, which was called the bunkhouse. I had a large enough bed for myself. The room itself was painted sun yellow and lime green, which nearly made me puke or a migraine.

"Well this is it!" She twirled round to face me. "Isn't it brilliant myself and Father Maxwell painted it."

"...It's..." I couldn't think of anything to say, the word awful kept popping up in my head. She'd probably chuck me out if I said it out loud.

"Too shocked for words?" She smiled. "That's how Duo was when he first walked in here, which is strange as he never does stop talking." She took off towards the door, "Call me if you need anything Heero, I'll leave you to unpack. Oh and if you want to find Duo he's probably in the church practising hymns on the organ. Nice to have met you!" And with that, she closed the door behind leaving me in the horror clown room. I bet Trowa would love it in here after all he worked at the circus in the Summer Holidays.

Half an hour later, I was unpacked and left with nothing to do. Deciding to look around my home for the next Month, I found myself looking in the gardens and watching from afar, as the orphan children played baseball. None of the children could actually hit the ball hard enough to send it flying, but they were all still having fun.

The sound of an organ playing caught my attention. Sister Helen did say Duo would probably be in the church practising on the organ. Well that's something new. I followed the noise up to the church doors. Opening one, I quietly snuck inside deciding to start act one, to talk to Maxwell.

I let out a small gasp. The church was massive on the inside, full of statues and paintings of Christ and other things relevant to the bible. I've never in my whole life stepped inside a church before. I would never have guessed it would be like this. At the front of the church was a large table full of candles, placed in front of a large stain glass window. However, a little to the left hand side was Duo sitting at an organ.

He was wearing a black t-shirt and trousers while he still wore that silly ugly hat. He had his head bowed watching his hands fly over the keys in fast movements. I have to admit, he's actually quiet good. Each note he played was perfect in every way.

Deciding not to make my presence known, I slowly crept up to the front of the church so I was standing behind him. Now I could see how fast his hands were moving and how much emotion he was putting into it. He was so caught up in his playing that he didn't even feel my presence behind him. Now all I have to do was comment him in some way.

"You're very good. How long have you been playing for?" That got his attention. He twirled around so fast I thought he'd start a whirlwind, and while he was doing it he slammed his foot into my shin. ITTTAAAALLLIIIII. Shitfuckingcrapinhell! I grit my teeth to prevent a cry of pain.

"Oh. My. God!" He cried eyes widened. "I'm so sorry Heero! Did I hurt you? I didn't know you were behind me. I'm so sorry, you startled me and I twirled around so fast, I thought you were a burglar or something..."

Hey what happened to the stuttering guy in the corridor? Seems that this time he can talk.

"...If I would have known you were behind me I wouldn't have kicked you. I hope I haven't hurt your leg too much, are you alright your face seems at bit screwed up, what's...?"

"I'm alright." I cut him off bluntly as he spoke. God I don't think I've heard so much come out of someone's mouth at one time! And still he continued

"I didn't know you were here! If I did I would have showed you to your room at least!" He cried before slumping down on his stool.

"Hn. Sister Helen showed me to my room." I stated to end the whole conversation. The room was left into a deafening silence. A very uncomfortable one to tell you the truth. Duo sat on the stool in front of me fiddling with the end of his hideous jumper which was wrapped around his waist. The look of it made me want to puke for the second time since I got here.

"You asked me how long I've been playing for?" He suddenly spoke up his voice quiet and a little timid.

"Hai"

"Pardon?"

"Yes. Yes I did," I snapped. He nodded his head slightly as a blush spread across his cheeks.

"I've been playing since I can remember." He answered bowing his head slightly. Well that tells me a lot how far back is 'Since I can remember'? Hn. Stupid Baka. I snorted rather loudly, which caused his head to snap up. He seemed a little down for a minute before he shook his head and put on a smile.

Suddenly the church doors burst open and Sister Helen marched in pulling two crying children after her. One holding his head and other stamping his feet in a tantrum. She looked like she was having a hard time pulling the two after her. I felt somebody swiftly brush past me, a minute later Duo pulled one of the kids up into his arms.

"Hey little guy," He said with a worried look on his face. "What happened?" He nodded to Sister Helen who smiled thankfully, as she carried the other troublesome kid off. Duo went to peal the boy's hand from his head to see what he'd done, but the little kid pulled away again whimpering.

"Hey, come on. Let brother Duo see what you've done to your head." He smiled going to peal the boy's hand from his again. This time the boy complied and let Duo examine the small bump, which had formed there.

"Awwww how did you to that Jake?" He asked gently running his fingers over the top of the wound. I watched from beside the organ as Duo gently kissed the boys head. I rolled my eyes as soon as this is over the better.

"S'playin baseball" Jake sniffed dramatically as he wiped his nose "Jamie hit the ball and it landed on my head" he pulled a sad face as more tears began to fall.

"Don't worry little man we'll clean this up" Duo shifted the boy in his arms and threw me a nervous glance "Ermm...I wont be a moment"

"Don't worry. I'm going to my room," I stated to tell you the truth my shin is really hurting and I needed to sit down. Also the boys' crying was giving me a headache. I hate children when they're at that age. A small frown came to Duo's face but was quickly replaced by a smile. He shifted the boy again so he was balanced on his hips and pushed his large glasses further up his nose.

"Oh, OK. I'll see you at dinner then?"

"Hn." With that, I turned my back on him. I'm never going to get this to work. To tell you the truth he defiantly hasn't got the looks and well so far he's just an annoying clumsy chatterbox. I ran a hand through my hair. What happened if I just told Duo about the bet and asked him to say I love you out loud in front of Relena?...But that's cheating, and Heero Yuy never cheats.

I opened the church doors and stomped my way moodily out into the gardens again. The baseball game had stopped now and all the kids had probably gone to their rooms to play with their other stupid toys. The baseball bat and ball with small sand bags were sprawled out along the grass, left for someone to come along and pick them up. Like I said, I hate children when they're at that stage in their life, making a mess being their only speciality.

"Heero Yuy I presume?" A deep voice brought me from my thoughts. Sitting on a nearby beach was an old man around 70. He had a white evenly cut beard and shaggy white hair. He wore suit of black and had on a white priest's collar. His green eyes sparkled in gentle rouge sunset.

"Hai" I answered not entirely sure who the hell he was, I think there's only one priest here.

"Father Maxwell." He held out a wrinkled hand as a small smile played on his lips. "Nice to finally meet you, Duo's been driving himself crazy getting this place straight for you to stay in." I frowned slightly but took his hand.

"Hn. Figures, that's all people do these days if I'm going somewhere." I sighed, Father Maxwell's smile got even bigger.

"Why don't you take a seat next to me? I want to find out what my new guest is like." He patted the empty space next to him. Oh great I don't have to have a heart to heart with him now do I? I eyed the seat for a few seconds before deciding to take the seat as my shin was indeed starting to hurt me. Damn Maxwell. Damn Relena. Damn Zechs.

"So when did you arrive Heero?" The old man asked as he stared out over at the abandoned 'Baseball Field'.

"I was informed to be round here by six," I answered in a bored tone, as I stared off into the sunset. The colours of red, purple and orange all meshed together into one. The view looked exactly like one painting I have in my house.

"So how do you find the old Maxwell church?" Father Maxwell chuckled. "Believe me once you stay a month here you'll never want to leave."

"Hn." Oh, believe me I will. "It's fine." Father Maxwell glanced at me out of the corner of his eye as we sat in silence. I could faintly hear a few children's shouts and screams coming from the bunkhouse.

"I always come out here at the end of a restless day to watch the sunset." He smiled brightly, "My father once said to me, that a sunset is the gate to heaven."

I sat in silence as the man murmured, "He said, the end of the day is when all the spirits return to their place in the sky, where they turn to stars and watch over us at night." I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye to see him staring starry eyed at the blazing sky. Hn. I don't think anyone's watching over me. Silence returned.

"Do you like sports Heero?" He asked me suddenly, I glanced out at the baseball field and muttered, "Hai"

"The children of the Maxwell church are always playing baseball out here. Do you like the game?"

"Yes."

"Well good!" He smiled brilliantly. "We often have a tournament each month; I'm always on the losing team." He chuckled lightly. "Would you like to join in this Sunday?"

"..." I opened my mouth to answer but he beat me too it.

"It's supposed to be the hottest weekend of the year and we wanted to make the most of it." He turned to me with a smile. "That's why all the kids are practising. They all want to win to get the prize."

"What's the prize?" He chuckled again before lightly tapping his nose with his index finger.

"It's a secret, but it's worth a shot at!" He grinned, "So what do you say?" I thought for a moment, I didn't have anything else to do on Sunday and the priest had asked.

"Sure" I answered, "I'll play."

"Great!" A loud bell rung out through the grounds. My head snapped up as about 30 kids poured out from the bunkhouse and over towards the church.

"Looks like its dinner time. You coming Heero?" Father Maxwell got out of his seat and stretched his bony back. "I think it's the chiefs special today."

"Hn." I nodded and got out of my seat. I guess it's time to make my appearance at the church official.

**TBC...**


	6. FOOD FIGHT!

**Chapter 6**

**FOOD FIGHT!  
**

**(Duo POV)**

Oh My God this is going so wrong. I kicked his leg for God's sake . Really hard fuck!– Sorry Father. I shouldn't be swearing since I swore I wouldn't in my home, but...Shit this can't be happening to me. The look on his face as he left the church made me almost want to cry for like the millionth time today. I really am a cry-baby. Great.

"Duo my head hurts." There was a whimper as I carried Jake through the church after Sister Helen, who at the moment was having a hard time with Timmy, who was howling his head off. He sure doesn't act like an 8 year old.

I turned my attention to the small child in my arms for the first time since Heero had left. To tell you the truth I had completely forgotten I was holding him for a minute there. His blue eyes shimmered with fresh tears under his fringe of brown hair. I smiled gently and shifted him in my arms slightly.

"Hey don't worry buddy we're almost there." I replied, "We'll bandage that thing up for you and you'll feel much better!" Jake nodded dumbly before resting his head against my shoulder.

We finally stopped in the kitchens. My mouth drooled as I watched some of the nun's cook. what looked like the chiefs special. Lamb chops and mash potato's, with a few vegetables. This was my favourite meal of the week, while it's the kids worst. Jake took one look at what they were cooking and nearly started to cry again.

"Don't want Lamp Chop." He pouted crossing his arms as he bounced in my arms.

"Why not it's very tasty." I grinned swinging him around so he was on an empty worktop, away from where the nuns where cooking. "And it makes you big and strong like Popeye."

"I thought spinach makes you strong like Popeye." He muttered, "That means I don't have to eat lamp chops."

"Na ah" I shook my head as I crouched down and pulled open a small cupboard under the work surface which contained a first aid kit, "You have to eat Lamb Chops to make the spinach work (1)."

"Really?" There was a small reply from above.

"Yeah" I reached towards the green box. Heaving it out, I searched through it until I found a plaster that would cover the small cut on his head. It was bleeding slightly so I had to cover it up before it became infected.

"Duo, why are you wearing that ugly hat for?" I sighed at the question.

"I thought we all went over this?" I stood up again and pulled the tabs off the plaster. Sadly the church only has enough disinfectant for larger more important cuts so I was left with a plaster. "It's to cover up my hair so Heero don't see it." I placed the blue plaster on Jakes head who whimpered a little.

"There!" I pulled away and grinned at my master-work. "You feeling any better yet?"

"A little." He murmured with a sniff. "But...But why can't Heero sees your pretty hair Duo?" I sighed again as I bent down to put the box away again.

"Because he'll hate it." I said through gritted teeth. It's true, I think everyone at school would hate my hair if they ever saw it, but...It holds too many memories for me, like all the good times I had with the gang and Solo. I felt my heart sink just thinking of his name. Solo loved my hair. Solo loved me.

"Anyway, Jake remember the promise you made with the others not to tell Heero about it?"

"Yes Duo."

"And you know it's very important to keep a promise?"

"Yes Duo."

Suddenly a bell rang out through the church, signalling dinner was ready and to go to the Dining Hall.

"Time to eat those Lamb Chops Jakey buddy." I quickly lifted Jake off the counter. Taking his hand, I lead him towards the Dining Hall, which was joined to the west wide of the church.

We both just got there as the last of the kids sat down. Heero had taken a seat next to Father Maxwell at the head of the table. The last chair was at the other end of the very long table. I guess I won't be eating near Heero tonight then. Jake shook his hand free and took off to his little group of friends who had saved him a seat.

I quickly took my seat next to Sister Helen at the other end of the table as the plates were being handed out. I could here a few grunts and errs, of disgust from the children as they realised what they were having. We only have meat and vegetables once a week and it happened to be brought to us on a Wednesday.

I took a quick glance down the table to see Heero staring down at his meal with the look of disgust on his face. Great, just great. I bet he has all kinds of nice luxury, expensive food at home while at the church we get the cheapest we can buy. There was a sudden cough at the head of the table. Everyone bowed their heads and placed their hands together for the start of the prayer. Father Maxwell got out of his chair and took a proud look around at the children of the orphanage.

"Thank you lord!" He spoke up. "For this glorious food you set upon our orphanage's table Today."

I carefully peaked one eye open to take glance at Heero. The guy had his eyes closed and his hands together like everyone else. I wonder what he was doing while I was with Jake.

"We would like to say thank you for all the donations we have had today to make this orphanage possible." Father Maxwell smiled, "We would also like to say thank you for giving us the chance to meet another wonderful human being who will be staying at our orphanage for the next month to help with his school work. Please would you bless him and watch over all of us Amen."

"Amen" Everyone murmured together before digging into their dinner. I took my first bite of mash potato. My favourite especially with gravy.

Everyone seemed to go and have their own little conversations while I was left with Sister Helen and the other nuns. I could see out of the corner of my eye Heero talking with Father Maxwell. Oh, I hope he doesn't say anything embarrassing about me.

"So Duo it's the Baseball Tournament this weekend, are you up for it?" Sister Helen asked with a gentle but challenging smile.

I smirked; Sister Helen and myself are known as the best batters of the church. I guess no one would expect a Nun like herself to send a ball flying. Father Maxwell makes sure that he doesn't place us on the same team otherwise the game would already be won. Last month my team just narrowly made it by one point. I made sure I rubbed it in her face as much as I could in a friendly way of course. Anyway, I won the prize of having a nice bottle of strawberry shampoo, as I was the captain. Everyone else had chocolate bars. I only use the shampoo on special occasions so it's hardly used. I bet it will go out of date before I've used it all, that's if it can...

"You ready for another beating Sister?" I gave her my best grin. Her smile grew even bigger. As she placed her, knife and fork on her plate she leant in towards me.

"I'll get you this time Duo Maxwell you just see. Maybe if I have Heero put on my team we'll knock your team out in the first round."

"Yeah, yeah." I playfully stuck my tongue out before taking another fork full of food. I stole a quick glance up the table to see Father Maxwell nattering on about something, probably nothing interesting. Heero was sat staring down at his food, shifting it around his plate with his fork. I guess he hates it. Damn and this is the only decent dinner we have all week.

"Duo why don't you take them silly glasses off?" Sister Helen whispered to me, laying a hand gently on my arm, "It doesn't matter about the hat but with those ugly glasses on we can't see your wonderful eyes."

I sighed and stared down at my plate. I guess I could after all Heero is all the way down the other side of the table he won't be able to see them. I slowly took them off and lay them down on the table next to my plate.

Suddenly there was a loud scream from one of the kids half way down the table. Sister Helen's and my head snapped towards the noise to see, Lily sat with mash potato down the front of her dress. Tears brimmed over her eyelids before she grabbed a handful of food and lobbed it at the boy opposite her. Oh no.

"Daniel don't you..." I shouted before he threw some back at her. Which totally missed and landed on Jake. The brown haired boy's head snapped over to Daniel before he grabbed a hand full of peas and chucked them back.

"You lot stop it now!" Sister Helen shouted leaping out of her chair when all of a sudden a pile of mash got splattered all over her face. The room was left in a threatening silence. Everyone's eyes widened and watched the yellow-white substance as it slowly dripped off her face and landed on the table blow with a loud thump within the defending silence. Her face was bowed so no one could see her expression. The room was so quiet I bet if a pin were dropped it would sound like a bomb.

Unexpectedly her shoulders began to shake in rapid movements before a bark of laughter escaped her mouth. She lifted her head back up her green eyes shimmering with laughter as she grabbed a handful of mash and threw it back at her attacker that happened to be Father Maxwell.

The mash splattered on his chest and right arm as he let out a loud yelp. Everyone let out a loud gasp, as their eyes widened even more. If that's possible. Smirking, Father Maxwell stood proudly out of his seat. His eyes never leaving hers, as he reached down towards his plate when he suddenly had another lot of mash on his chest. His eyes diverted to, two orphan twins Harry and Katie who were giggling to themselves their hands covered in mash.

My eyes widened in shock as Father Maxwell threw some of his peas at them. The two screamed playfully and dived under the table when suddenly a full- blown food fight started. All the kids grabbed their lumpy mash and chucked it at anyone that was in their firing range.

I took one look at Sister Helen who was currently using her chair as a shield to block Father Maxwell's blows before shrugging my shoulders. I took a handful of mash and lobbed it at one of the kids. I guess I'm not that hungry. Jumping out of my seat I grabbed my plate and hid behind my chair. Four or five mash potato lumps were shot my way before one finally landed right on the top of my hat. Gravy ran down my forehead as a lump of mash slid down my nose. Quickly wiping it away I grabbed whatever was left on my plate, which happened to be cabbage, and lobbed it over towards Jake. The green vegetable landed smack bang in the middle of his face. I have to admit I have rather good aim and I am quite good at dodging food too...

Suddenly out of nowhere a large pile of mash smacked into my face. I heard a bark of laughter come from somewhere at the other end of the table. Wiping the food from my face I glared at my attack that happened to be Heero. My heart stopped for a couple of seconds to see that he was actually enjoying himself. He had a smile on his face that could light up outer space. He seemed to be laughing too. Our eyes met, I smirked to myself as I felt around for my plate. I could have sworn something flashed in his eyes, maybe happiness, before they got covered in mash, which I'd chucked at him.

I ducked behind my chair as gravy was being sprayed across the room. I guess everyone was having way too much fun to stop. The fight went on for another five minutes until Sister Helen finally shouted over everyone to stop. Slowly the fights slowed down and stopped. Everyone stared around in amazement to see the mess they had made. Mash, gravy, peas, spinach, cabbage and other vegetables, had been chucked across the room and were splattered over the table, floor and chairs. Even some had landed on the roof and walls. I guess that was a waste of food, which we couldn't afford.

"Everybody to the bunk house!" Sister Helen shouted as she tried to wipe some gravy off her outfit "Sisters, come with me to get some water from somewhere."

The kids ran out of the dinning hall in a mad rush to get to their rooms. I could see Heero standing up from where he was hiding. He had gravy in his chocolate brown hair making it stick to his forehead and mash potato on his face thanks to me. Though his eyes seemed different now from the time when we were just fighting. All the happiness I'd just seen had disappeared. In fact, he wasn't even smiling now. He looks so much better when he smiles.

"Duo why don't you and Heero have a chat about your project together." Father Maxwell spoke up as he dusted himself down. His black priest outfit had splashes of gravy and mash on it, "I'm sure you could make a start on it."

I felt my heart begin to beat faster as I rounded the table over to the two of them. I licked my suddenly dry lips and nodded my head.

"Yeah OK...Is that OK with you Heero?" Father Maxwell smiled at me from behind Heero as he went to leave with the other nuns. I could faintly hear the words he spoke to me just before Heero came. Just be yourself, in the end he'll out find the real you under your mask.

"Its fine." He ran a hand through his chocolate brown hair making the gravy- coated strains stand up. It took all my will to stop myself from laughing at him. "What's so funny?" Oh great he saw.

"Ermm nothing" I murmured quickly turning away from him. "So we going to go to your room and talk about me?"

"Hai."

"Pardon?"

"Yes, yes we are." There was a silence before he spoke. "Turn round." I slowly turned to face him when suddenly, I had a plate of food plunged into my face.

"ARGH!" Heero pulled the plate back and laughed. The rich sound of his voice filled my ears like music. Mash potatoes, gravy and vegetables caked my face. I could feel the food sliding down my neck and down my top. My hands instantly went to wipe the food away from my eyes. I bet I looked really silly with a mash potato face. Swiping the food from my face into my hand I lobbed it at Heero before running for my life.

"Why you!" I could hear his voice as I dived behind a nearby chair, laughter escaping my mouth, "Come back here!"

"Na ah, you'll have to catch me first," I yelled back in a taunting voice. What the hell am I thinking! This is Heero Yuy and I'm flirting with him. What the hell am I doing? Oh god he's coming over. I'd better run he's got mash in his hands.

I lunged from my place, behind a chair and went to run around the table and dive behind another one. I slowly pulled on the chair and went under the table thinking Heero wouldn't get me there. Oh how I was wrong. A moment later mash potato splashed down on the top of my head as he approached me from behind.

"Yuck!" I could hear more laughter from behind me. I turned round to see him sitting crossed legged in the darkness. I shook my head like a dog causing lumps of mash to fly over his way. He laughed some more as he put up his hands up to shield his face. We both sat in silence for a moment. The sounds of our breath slowing down from our brief fight filling our ears. I glanced over to him to see he was staring at the floor in a daze. I still can't believe it; here I am sitting under a table with Heero Yuy. The most popular boy in the school. The boy, who just this morning called me a freak, is now...acting friendly. Finally, the silence got too much, I had to say something.

"So I guess this is something you know about me now." I murmured as I tried to scratch a stain out of my trousers, "My family is rude at the dinner table and like to chuck food at each other."

"Baka." He snorted his intense blue eyes fixing on my face. I could feel my cheeks burning up and what the hell is 'Baka'?

"I'd I'd better...Err...Go help Sister Helen clean the kids up...You, you can...Err...Come if if you want to... Err...Get some gravy out of your...Hair?" I stuttered pushing one of the chairs back so I could get out.

"OK." He stated before he himself made his way out from under the table. I stood, grabbing my glasses on the way and quickly brushed myself down before we both went to leave. Just as we were about to get to the door I suddenly started to slip. I grabbed hold of his arm to stop myself from falling.

"Don't move." He murmured as I looked down to see we were walking through a large puddle of gravy which just made the floor even more slippery than it already was. When I was little, I used to have races with the other kids to the other side of the room by skidding along the floor. That was until they were adopted.

I slowly straightened myself up and went to move. The two of us put one-foot forward and then another when abruptly Heero grabbed my other arm. His feet went flying forward causing him to pull harder on my arm. The next thing we knew we both smacked onto the floor with a loud 'thump', which winded both of us.

"O...uch" I breathed, grabbing my head feeling the thick gravy in my hair. Wait a minute. Oh no. My hat. Shit where is it. I turned to Heero to see he luckily had his back to me. His shoulders were shaking. Guess what - he's laughing again. Its weird, I've never seen him laugh before. He's not like the person I thought he was, at school he's so stonic. I thought he never laughed. My eyes searched the room quickly. My hat luckily was about a foot behind me. Quickly stuffing my braid into the ugly hat, I placed it back on my head just as Heero turned round.

"You ready to try and stand again?" He asked while I silently wondered why he was being so nice. He held out a hand for me and I felt my face burn up. We both made it out of the lake of gravy and left for the bunkhouse in another deafening silence.

(**Relena POV**)

I have this in the bag. This blonde geek just agrees with everything I say and he's defiantly falling for the 'Oh what happened I was soooo worried' act. When he returned from the supermarket, I rushed him up stairs asking him all sorts of questions about what happened. Acting as if I cared – Yeah Right. Now we are both sitting on his bed talking about what happened. He seemed to be mentioning Trowa's name a lot.

"He was so nice he looked after me while Rashid went to get a blanket." He stared starry eyed up at the ceiling as he talked. He had his arms folded behind his head and looked quiet happy. "Then he asked me out to dinner with him tonight."

"WHAT!" I shouted suddenly, my eyes widening. Trowa asked Quatre out! Why I'd slap him if he were here. This is all the work of Heero Yuy. He's planned all of this so he can win. I wouldn't mind if he did but I want to keep my pride! This is just a dirty trick.

"I...I…I mean in a friendly way Relena!" I snorted yeah my ass. Trowa's set out to keep him away from me for the whole of this project so I don't get to spend anytime with him. Bastard. This is not in the rules how dare he go after the same person, which I'm suppose to seduce!

"So your going to leave little old me all on my own?" I whimpered turning away. "I thought we'd be able to spend the night together talking about ourselves to get to know each other better." I fake sniffed, before burying my face in my hands. "I'll be all on my own Quatre, please don't go." I faked bursting into tears.

There was a silence. I took a quick look at Quatre to see him staring in a daze at my back A second later, I felt his hand on my shoulder. He pulled me round so I was facing him. It's a good job I'm a good actor or fake crying would be hard to pull off with no tears.

He gently wiped the tears from my eyes, before handing me a handkerchief.

"I'm sorry Relena, but I promised him I would go to dinner with him." He sighed the look of guilt all across his face. "If I would have known you would have liked to talk to me I wouldn't of accepted, I'm sorry." Yeah right. I glared at him for a few seconds thinking over my possibilities.

"Trowa's a nasty person Quatre," I stated crossing my arms over my chest. "He'll only hurt you, I'm telling you now. He's been out with Sally and Une and they both say that he's cheated on them at least five times before they found out." Well actually, it was the other way around but he's not going to know that, "I just don't want you to get hurt."

His blue eyes stared at me in amazement, his mouth was parted slightly making him look like he'd gone into shock.

"Hey earth to Quatre!" I waved my hand in front of his face. "Did you get anything of what I just said?" He blinked a couple of times before a frown came upon his face.

"Why are you doing this? I think it's my choice to decide what I think of Trowa." He murmured, I turned my back to him. "And I think you must be lying...Nobody would be that selfish to someone else by cheating on them five times. Besides me and Trowa are going out as friends – I'm not gay Relena." Thank Fuck for that.

"Think what you like Mate." I continued, liking the fact that I was winding him up. "I know what Trowa's like. He's a big player. It doesn't matter what your preference is when it comes to him. I know Trowa Barton, he's been through hundreds of girls cheating on them, leaving them in heart break." I turned around and grabbed his shoulders in a dramatic sort of way. Kneeling in front, I shook his shoulders roughly. "Can't you see he's just trying to get you into bed!"

"Relena do you seriously think I would sleep with him?" He rolled his eyes and prided my hands off him. "He's a guy." I saw him wince slightly at his words.

"So..." I turned my back to him. "It's alright I get it, you'd rather spend time with him than me."

"I'm glad you understand Miss Relena."

"Wha..."

"I intend to go out with Trowa Barton tonight to get to know him better." He replied quickly as he stood up from his bed, I also stood up with him. He took hold of my elbow and led me towards the door. "Thank you for the great advice Relena!" With that he slammed the door in my face.

Oh My God. What a Bitch! Nobody slams a door in my face. Nobody!

"We still haven't talked about the project yet!" I yelled in my loudest, shrillest voice through the door. "We'll both fail!"

"We'll talk about it tomorrow!" I heard a faint reply, "Besides I'm sure I could get all the information from Trowa."

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. I hate Trowa Barton! I stamped my foot to the floor in a childish way before turning to walk to my room. I guess I have to unpack.

I slammed open my bedroom door in a mood and marched over to my bed. The room the Winner's had picked out was perfect. Everything is pink. The bed is a four-poster with pink satin covers and curtains. I wish I were home right now.

I pushed my suitcase off the bed before throwing myself face down onto it. So Heero's decided to play dirty...Well two people can play that game. Maybe Sally or Dorothy will help me get my own back. My plan would have to be perfect, so perfect that Heero won't know what's hit him when Quatre finally admits that he loves me in front of everyone. I just need to get Duo to fall in love with someone else. Maybe Katherine? Yes Katherine, she knows how to handle men.

I rolled onto my back to stare up at the ceiling.

"You're not going to win Heero Yuy," I murmured before sitting up. I grabbed my mobile phone from where it was charging on my bedside table and scrolled down the list of names in my contacts before I came to the T's. The phone started to ring in my ear when a male voice answered.

"Trowa Barton how dare you," I hissed.

"Hn."

"How dare you take Quatre out on our first night together!" I snapped, "I had so much planned and you ruined it all"

"Ah well, looks like Quatre would rather spend time with me rather than you, Relena." His voice sounded amused, which just pissed me off more. I clenched my fists so hard I let my fake pink nails did into my palms. I quickly released them hoping I hadn't done any damage to my beautiful hands.

"This is not in the rules Trowa Barton. You can't go and steal my English partner for yourself," I yelled.

"What rules Relena?" He chuckled.

"The Deal rules you twat!" I shrieked.

"There's no rules in The Deal Relena." He laughed, I snarled and clenched my teeth. "And why can't I steal him? Quatre seemed to like the idea. Besides even if The Deal did have rules they wouldn't apply to me. This is between you and Heero."

"Heero put you up to this didn't he? He's making sure he'll win so he can take me back and steal all my pride! Well I tell you now Trowa Barton that wont happen!" I slammed my hand down onto the bed next to me.

"One thing is for sure Miss Relena. I didn't ask Quatre out to help Heero!" Trowa almost yelled. "And the fact that I am taking him out has nothing to do with you!"

"Oh yes it does!" I cried.

"Goodbye Relena."

"Trowa!" The phone went dead in my ear. Snarling, I pressed redial only to have him cut me off. Damn you Trowa Barton. I chucked my phone across the room. It smashed against the wall; the pink cover breaking off in the process. It dropped to the floor, shortly followed by the phone itself.

This is not going as I planned.

**TBC...**


	7. Fish and Chips

**Chapter 7**

**Fish and Chips**

**(Heero POV)**

How many kids are there exactly in this orphanage? It looked like there were about 50 sitting at the dinner table. No wonder the church can't afford nice food. It was awful. The gravy was lumpy; the lamb chops were the toughest meat I've ever had in my whole life and the pea's were as hard as rocks. Luckily, that kid missed his attack on the girl to start the food fight, I was happy enough to throw my food away.

I watched out of the corner of my eye as Duo helped the nuns wash some of the dirt off the kids. They had three large wooden bowls full of water. One by one, each kid came up and was washed down by someone with a yellow sponge. Sister Helen had asked me to help, deciding I didn't want to touch a dirty kid I just led them back to their beds. They are nearly finished now and Duo was on his last kid.

We are all currently standing in the shower rooms which hardly got used due to the lack of water around this part of Sanc. I guess the church can't afford for everyone to have a shower everyday. I learnt from Father Maxwell that the kids only have a shower once a week. No wonder Duo smells so much. Its just disgusting thinking about it. I wouldn't be able to go a day without a shower.

Duo said after the kids had all been cleaned we could wash ourselves. Great. I don't think we'd get much cleaner with that mucky water. I'll just have to get up really early for school and stop by my house to have a shower.

"There you go!" Duo smiled as he finished washing another kid "Feel any cleaner?"

"Thank you Duo!" A small blonde haired kid grinned before skipping over to me "Hey mister are you taking me to bed?"

"Hn." I nodded and turned towards the exit of the room. The boy followed behind me like a duckling would with its mother. We both strolled down the empty corridor of the bunkhouse until we came to a stop inside the main room. The room was filled with bunk beds each having different coloured knitted bed sheets. The boy skipped in front of me and ran to his bed.

Sister Helen told me to watch them as they got into their beds in case they didn't actually get in and were left to run around the house. The boy jumped under his white woolly bed cover and smiled.

"Thanks mister!" He beamed. I nodded once again before turning to leave only for him to call for me again "Will you read me a bedtime story?"

No. No. No. No. No.

"Please!" The small boy batted his eyelashes at me as he pulled a large picture book from underneath the covers. I rolled my eyes, and sighed deeply. The sooner I get away from this place the better. I quickly stomped over to the boy and snatched the book from his hands. He let out a girlish squeal and clapped his hands, while other kids were slowly circling round me to listen in. Great just great.

"Onceuponatimethere..."

"No!" The boy cried suddenly giving me an evil death glare which could match my own. "You have to turn the book round to show us the pictures, you can't read a fairy story without seeing the pictures."

I glared at the boy before moodily turning the book round to face the others. I gave the boy a sarcastic smile. Turning it slightly so I could see the words I started again "Onceuponatimethere..."

"No. No. No. No!"

"What now!" I snarled turning to the annoying, stupid kid who just rolled his eyes in response.

"You have to read slower, none of us can understand you when you talk like that." I gritted my teeth before nodding slightly, my fists tightly curled around the corners of the book.

"Once upon a time there was a young girl named Cinderella..." I zoned out as I continued to read. I'm very proud of my talent to do so, it's gotten me out of the most boring situations ever such as reading for the class and assembly. God if anybody caught me doing this now my reputation would be ruined. I could just imagine WuFei's reaction to this something along the lines of 'What the hell were you doing with a bunch of weakling kids! The Injustice of it all'. I hope Duo doesn't walk in this exact moment and catches me reading to the kids.

I ideally flicked a page as I continued to ramble about 'Evil Step Sisters'. I've never even heard of this story before. In fact, I've never had a story read to me. My guardian, Doctor J is a scientist who loves to mess around in his labs that are about 100 miles away. He only comes home on the weekends so I'm left in the house on my own for the whole week. Sometimes a maid visits in the mornings and cleans the house but as I'm normally a tidy guy there isn't much for her to do. Well except for placing my clothes out on the bed for me, for when I get out of the shower. To tell you the truth I'm surprised J took time out of his busy schedule to even set-up this stupid project. Damn him.

I took a quick glance around at the small faces of the children of the Maxwell Church. All these children were just like me, no Mother or Father. At least I have something to remind myself of my family they probably don't even know who their real Mother or Father are because judging by their size it looks like most of them aren't past the age of 10. Thinking about it, that means Duo is like me.

"OOo I like this part!" A small little girl with red hair cooed, as she stared off dreamily into space. I raised my eyebrow slightly as the annoying kid who asked me to read this pathetic excuse of a story snorted.

"Shut up Emily you're ruining the story." He snapped.

"Are not!" Oh no here we go...

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Children!" There was a shout over the little quarrel. Everyone's head (including mine) turned simultaneously towards the door, where Sister Helen stood with a large smile on her pale face. She had her hands firmly planted on her hips and looked amused by the little display. "Why Heero, when I said for you to take them to bed I wouldn't of thought you of all people would read them a bedtime story as well!"

"Hn." Great. My head snapped away from the doorway in embarrassment. I could feel my cheeks burning up. A few seconds later, I had a hand rest on my shoulder.

"Why don't you go and clean yourself up, Duo's still in the shower room I think." She grinned, "I'll finish the story. Now off you go!"

"I...Thank you." I hastily jumped out of my seat and ran towards the exit not giving the bunkhouse a last look back. I could hear the children shouting 'Goodnight' after me before Sister Helen started the story up again.

I reached the shower room to see Duo had tipped out two of the large buckets down the shower drain. Well most of it had landed over him. I rolled my eyes at the scene, his clothes were soaked. The shower room is quite large and has over five shower cubicles on each side. The floor was covered in a cream spongy carpet while the walls where tiled white with black outlines. Duo while ringing out a yellow sponge to use on himself was singing a song under his breath.

'Life is a mystery

Everyone must stand-alone

I hear you call my name...

And it feels like home...'

He gently removed the T-shirt he was wearing, still not taking off his hat. From where I was standing I could see small scars all along his back. In fact, there was one rather long scar, which ran from the top of his right shoulder and down to the middle of his back. Were the hell did he get that from? I have a few scars over my body; they're all from playing football and other sports. Well except one. I ideally rubbed the top of my left arm.

'I hear your voice

It's like an angel sighing

I have no choice

I hear your voice

Feels like flying...'

Suddenly he turned to humming the song as he washed his face in the mucky water. I wanted the puke when I saw what I had to wash in. The water had actually turned brown from all the gravy. I ran a hand through my hair and winced slightly as I accidentally pulled out a few strains, which stuck to my palm. Deciding it was now or never I made my way over to Duo just as he was about to remove his hat.

"Arrgghh!" He screamed as I sat next to him. Both of his hands clamped down on his hat. Why the hell is he still wearing that ugly thing? He seemed to calm down after a minute and gulped loudly "He...Heero...Wwwhat are you doing?"

"Taking a wash Baka." I snorted rolling my eyes at the stupid comment.

"...Oh..." He murmured reaching for his sponge. I grabbed one of the discarded sponges, dipping it into the mucky water I shuddering in disgust and almost gagged. Quickly removing my T-shirt I ran the sponge along my sticky body. Duo had frozen next to me. Out of the corner of my eye I could see his eyes had widened and were following my every movement.

"What's wrong never seen another guys chest before?" I asked suddenly with a smirk, not really knowing why I'd said it in the first place. His face turned from pure shock to horror as he realised I'd noticed him staring. He quickly shook his head and turned back to whatever he was doing...Maybe this will be easier than I thought.

**(Quatre POV)**

The nerve of that woman! How dare she tell me what to think! I have enough of that from my father when he's home. I moodily stomped around my room. I've never felt this...This mad before! Glancing down at my watch I realised it was about 5 minutes until Trowa would arrive.

I grabbed my mobile on my bedside table before entering my bathroom. I ran a hand through my hair as I stared at myself in the mirror.

"I must be mad." I murmured lowly. Why would a cool, popular guy like Trowa like to take me out to dinner? Especially when he was the one who helped me when I was knocked out. It should be me who should be taking him out, not the other way round. Oh God, I'm getting all worked up. What if he doesn't turn up and all it was, was a cruel joke for him to joke and laugh about with his jock friends. I could feel my heart pounding in my ears. Oh god, I hope it goes all right. I hope he turns up. Please Allah.

Suddenly there was a knock on my bedroom door, scaring me to death. It better not be Relena, or maybe Trowa has actually turned up and it's Rashid to tell me he's here. I raced over to the door and opened it to see Relena standing tall with a proud smile on her face.

"Relena!" I cried surprised, while slightly disappointed "What...What are you doing here?"

"To say good luck of course!" She beamed. What the hell..."I hope you have a nice night out with Trowa and after all. You will come back later for us to have a nice little talk right?"

I stood shocked for a moment before nodding my head "Yes...Yes I will"

"Great!" She said a wide smile on her face. "Oh and Rashid came a few minutes ago to tell you Trowa is here. I wanted to talk to you myself so I told him I would tell you."

I felt my heart flutter. So Trowa has turned up. I glanced up at Relena to see she was still smiling. Has she been knocked on the head again? Where's the Relena from 2 hours ago? I noticed she had changed into a summer evening dress. She had obviously dressed up to go down to dinner with my family while I'm out. I think I like this side of her better.

"Thank you for telling me Relena.", I slowly shut the door as I exited my room.

"Quatre?" She murmured. "I'm sorry, I should never have said all that I did about Trowa...He's a nice guy really and you two could become great friends." Or more I hope I added silently ignoring the fact that I thought I was straight. Well at least she apologising but still she continued. "Its just well...Oh it doesn't matter." She shyly fluttered her eyelashes as she linked her hands in front of her, reminding me of a little kid who looked like they were trying to hide something naughty from their horrible parents.

"Would you mind escorting me downstairs?" She asked. "Please Q" Q?? Duo's the only one who calls me that. Something fishy is going on here.

"...Alright." I stuck my elbow out for her to link her arm round mine. She giggled quietly as we both took off towards the main hall.

As we reached the top of the stairs, I could see Trowa standing by the door waiting patiently. He had his back facing us so we both couldn't see his face. He was wearing a dark green long sleeved top and dark blue jeans. Looking at him, I felt over dressed instantly. I myself was wearing all designer clothes. A cream Calvin Klein shirt and black Ted Baker trousers.

"Trowa!" Relena called, causing the green-eyed boy to swiftly turn round and land his gaze on us. I could see his eyes darken as they landed on Relena.

"Relena." He spoke with a hateful tone.

"Oh, Trowa where you taking Quatre tonight hmm?" She asked politely. I quickly past the two as they started a staring match. Grabbing my coat off its peg by the door, I heard Trowa's reply.

"Stevens why?" Stevens is a small, but popular and very expensive restaurant in town where most people in our school boast about going to. I hope he doesn't mind taking me there after all it is a lot of money. I wouldn't mind going to a fast food restaurant as long...As long as it's was with him.

"Oh is that where you took Sally and Sarah on your first data with them?" Relena questioned, I froze in the middle of putting on my coat. Sarah? "You know Une was a bit pissed after finding out you'd cheated on her and took the girl to the exact same restaurant you took her to on your first date." What...

"Shut it Relena." Trowa snarled.

"And what about Katie..." I tuned out not wanting to hear any more. Relena was right. Trowa was a cheating liar. How could anyone be so...

"Are you ready Quatre?" Trowa turned to me suddenly. I gulped as he stared me straight in the eyes. I felt myself melt into goo. NO. No Trowa is a lying bastard...

"..."

"Quatre?" Trowa said again "Are you alright?" Maybe he's changed, maybe I could change him.

"Yes..." I murmured lowly. Yes, maybe I could change him. "Come on" I opened the front door and left not giving Trowa or Relena a last look.

"Quatre you have to be back by 10!" I heard a singsong call before the front door was slammed closed. A moment later, I felt a hand grab my arm and twirl me round. There I came face to face with Trowa. His green eyes pinned me down so I couldn't look any where else.

"Quatre...I need an honest answer. Are you sure you want to go out with me tonight?" I lost my breath, of course! But at the same time I wasn't sure. I didn't know if he was either using me to get something, to make a joke out of or to just be friendly. I gave him a firm nod. I wanted to do this.

"Yes," I smiled. "Come on lets get going, I'm getting hungry." He nodded happily and led me to his small blue convertible.

The drive to the restaurant was silent. My heart was pounding so fast, I didn't know what to do. I tried to start up a conversation but no words came to my mouth. I just sat staring out the window into the dark cloudless night chewing my nails. Was Trowa really a bad person to be around like Relena said? Had he cheated 5 times on all his girlfriends? But that's doesn't mean we can't be friends.

A few minutes later we arrived at Stevens, the place was packed with people dressed in their finest clothing. If I was to say, I felt more comfortable being with people who like me were dressed up like me I would be lying. Just the thought of going into the restaurant made me queasy. What happened if I did anything wrong? Like spilling my drink on the table or eating with the dinner fork when we were on the starter? We finally reached the entrance after waiting in a long queue. Trowa stated his name to the waiter, the first word he had said since we had left my house.

The waiter glanced down at his booking sheet in front of him and frowned.

"Excuse me sir, it says here that you just cancelled over 5 minutes ago"

"Pardon?" Trowa blinked in surprise, while one word ran though my head. Relena...But she had acted so nice just a minute ago.

"It states you just cancelled over 5 minutes ago, another couple has taken your seat," The waiter informed.

"No I didn't there must be a mistake" Trowa snapped, "Why would I turn up if I'd cancelled?"

"I'm sorry sir but we don't have any more room..."

"I want to talk to the manager please" Trowa fumed. I stood silent at his side as he argued with the waiter. I really didn't mind not coming here; maybe we could go somewhere else.

"Hey!" I spoke up suddenly pulling Trowa away from the waiter. He frowned at me not knowing what I was doing. I pulled him reluctantly out of line and a little way from the restaurant back to his car.

"Quatre what..."

"Why don't we go down to the chipy?" I asked with a smile, his eyebrow raised at my statement "Its err...Well I've never been to a chipy before...My father says it's for common Southy people." We stood in silence as Trowa thought over the request. Deciding to take matters into my own hands I grabbed his car keys which where hanging loosely in his hand. Grinning at him, I opened the passenger door and stepped aside.

"Get in Trowa, let me thank you for helping me out." His eyebrows drew together as he bit his bottom lip in thought before nodding slightly. He hopped into the passenger seat. I pushed the door shut behind him before running round to the driver's side. Jumping into the car, I pulled away from the horrible restaurant.

"Quatre where are we going?" He asked curiously, as I sped down the high street towards where I'd seen a chipy on the way.

"Wait and see." I smiled, a few minutes later we pulled up outside the chipy, I asked what he wanted and he answered in amusement obviously noticing my excitement to finally getting to see what 'fish and chips' tastes like. I ran into the shop while Trowa waited in the car and grabbed our order. Not feeling a bit nervous or out of place. Returning to the car, I handed him our orders and pulled back onto the road.

"Where we going now?" He asked in amusement.

"It's a secret." I answered. I drove through the streets until we came to a clearing, where all the houses stop and the road continued until the next city. On either side of the road were large open fields planted full with crops. I pulled to a stop in a small lay-by, where a small pathway led up to the top of a hill. I got out of the car as Trowa grabbed a small flash light from the back of his car. Leading him up the small path, I sat him down at the top of the hill against a tree.

"Quatre...I never knew this was here." He murmured in amazement overlooking the city lights.

"My Father used to take me up here when I was small." I answered truthfully sitting down next to him as he handed me my fish and chips "This is where my Father asked my Mother to marry him." I glanced at Trowa out of the corner of my eye to see he was staring down at his lap where his food lay, "Don't you like it?"

"What?" He turned to me slightly embarrassed that I'd caught him in a daze.

"Is there something wrong with your food, I know its nothing like Stevens food but..."

"Its fine Quatre," He smiled slightly, suddenly there was a loud bang from far off. I jumped slightly and grabbed onto Trowa's arm like a lifeline. I heard a small chuckle of laughter come from him as I did. Blushing, while silently thanking it was dark I pulled myself off him and turned to see a large rocket swoop up into the air and burst into a glittering cloud of all the colours of the rainbow.

"Thank you." I heard a whisper from Trowa, I turned to him to see he was staring right at me, "No one has ever done anything like this for me before."

"It's alright, just wanted to say thank you for helping me out." I gave him a warm smile before turning to watch the firework display.

"You didn't have to take me to some fancy restaurant Trowa," He didn't answer because he didn't need to. All I needed was to feel the weight of him slowly leaning against me as we stared off into the night eating our fish and chips.

**(Duo POV)**

I wonder how Quatre is doing with Relena right now. I think my first night with Heero could have gone better. The whole food fight scene seriously has me worrying he'll slag off my family at school. We don't normally waste food like that, it just sort of happened.

I lay back on the grass and stared up at the night sky in the field behind the Maxwell Church. There was not a cloud in the sky. I gently pulled my glasses off my nose and placed them on the floor next to me. There was not a sound around as everyone had gone to bed. It's this time of night I love to come out and just relax and think about school, the orphanage and Heero.

Taking in a deep breath of air, I crossed my arms around my head intending to think over what had happened with Heero back in the food hall and in the shower room. Was he flirting with me? I don't get it. How could a guy like him flirt with a guy like me, and besides do I have to mention it again? He's 110 straight...I must be imagining things. My brain's finally breaking down. He's so close, but yet so far away? I wonder what he's doing now. I crossed my ankles and yawned loudly.

Sometimes I've actually fallen asleep out here and woken up to Sister Helen yelling at me, saying I'd catch a cold and get ill. Yeah-right Shinigami can't die...I know that too well...

"Duo?" I jumped at the sudden noise and twirled round to see Heero standing not too far off only wearing blue sweat pants...God he looks good in them. I could just make out the lines of his defining six pack in the dark. "What are you doing out here?"

"I...I...came to look at the stars." I answered lamely but it was true I love coming out at night and stargazing. There's just enough light from the surrounding houses to light up the field enough just so you can see. Heero nodded once and I knew this was my chance "Do you wanna...Join me?"

"Doing what?" He asked quizzically raising an eyebrow.

"Star gazing."

"Hn." I rolled back into my original position, not really knowing what Hn. meant in Heero's language. A moment later, I felt a warm presence lye next to me. We lay in silence staring up at the stars when suddenly he spoke.

"Tell me something about you." He murmured in a tired voice. I guess the kids wore him out. Sister Helen came and told me how she found him getting bulled by the kids into reading a story. I guess he wouldn't want anyone at school to know and if he asked me to keep it a secret...I would never tell a soul.

"Like what?" I asked, watching out of the corner of my eye as he crossed his arms loosely behind his head. He shrugged his shoulders; I sighed trying to think up of something, "I've lived here since I can remember."

"Where were you before?"

"..." I frowned slightly remembering my past. I felt a shiver run up and down my spine. I opened my mouth and found I couldn't tell him, nor could I make up a lie. I may run I may hid but I never tell a lie "I...Can't tell you."

"Nani?"

"What?"

"...I meant why not?" He sighed running a hand though his sort of washed hair.

"I'm sorry," I murmured turning to him. He raised an eyebrow at me. "I can't tell you, not yet." He nodded in understandment. I suppose everyone has their secrets. Suddenly there was a loud bang. A few blocks away from us, a large firework flew up into the sky and shattered into a million colours.

"Hn. Dorothy's father's having a garden party," Heero snorted.

"Does he have them often?" Gosh I'm talkative tonight...Well I've always been talkative but not to him.

"Hai, I've often been invited, but I turned it down tonight." Oh...great. I guess I stopped him from having a fun day out. We lay in another nerve-racking silence when he spoke. "Do you ever get sad if one of the kids gets adopted?" Huh what brought this up?

I smiled sadly remembering the last time a kid was adopted. Everyone was happy to see that he'd actually had a couple pick him, while sad at the same time. He was one of the few kids who'd stayed in the orphanage for most of his life. His name was Phil and was a even louder talker like I am - we got on really well.

"It's sad I suppose." I murmured. "But I'm happy to see them go off to where they belong...With a family."

"How come you've never been adopted?" I blushed slightly at the question. How the hell am I going to tell him I pull every dirty trick to be sent back to the orphanage...My home.

"Well..." I started trying to pick out the right words. "When I'm adopted, I feel like I'm being taken away from my family, not being taken to my new family...I've learnt that my family here is much better than another I could ever have and I wouldn't trade them for the world. Whenever I was sent away with my new family I would rebel until I was taken home." There was silence again as another firework exploded in the pitch black sky I muttered, "Anyway, that's back then. Nobody wants a stinking teenager now days."

We lay in silence watching the display, and before I new it I'd drifted off into the land of dreams. I think before I went I heard the soft sounds of someone snoring next to me.

**TBC...**


	8. The Rugby Tackle

**Chapter 8**

**The Rugby Tackle**

**(Trowa POV)**

It's funny how short a class can pass when your staring at a curtain blonde bitches head. I'm not stupid I knew it was her who happened to cancel my 'sorry' date with Quatre last night. Though everything went fine and we ended up watching Dorothy's father's firework display from the top of a hill just on the outskirts of town.

I just hope Quatre enjoyed it as much as I did. Maybe he went home and told Relena how much he enjoyed his night out with me. I hope he told it in the fullest detail of how we ate 'fish n chips' on the top of the hill and talked for hours. I'm quiet surprised that I'd actually talked for so long. Usually I get lost for words and then shut myself up. But with Quatre it's different. I don't know how, but he just makes me feel more at home. Silly isn't it.

The bell rang out through the school building causing everyone to rise from their seats. Relena rose from her seat and gave me a dirty glare before racing after Dorothy and her friends as they left the class. I glanced over to see WuFei talking to Sally about something before she suddenly started to laugh. WuFei turned towards me and snarled lowly as he passed, obviously in a bad mood. God what had Sally said now?

"Trowa, you coming?" Heero asked in almost a whisper as he shouldered his backpack to leave the room. I nodded silently and left after him. He'd been quiet all morning and seemed to be a little tried. I didn't have a chance to ask him what happened last night with Duo and why he had arrived late for the first time ever this morning.

Just as I was about to open my mouth he spoke. "I had to take a shower at my own house this morning." He almost snarled. "The kids are only allowed to have one shower a week at the orphanage."

Ew.

"How did it go last night?" I asked in interest. Heero shrugged his shoulders effortlessly.

"We didn't really talk that much," He stated. "He's a bit weird though and annoying."

"How come?"

"For one, he never takes his hat off." The brown haired boy stifled a yawn. "He also likes to go out into Church grounds at night and fall asleep there."

"Looks like you slept in a field as well." I smirked glancing at his wild haircut. He snorted and muttered something under his breath about raining when suddenly we were joined by WuFei.

"Yuy." He nodded towards Heero before turning to me. "Barton...I hear you're dating Winner..."

"What?" Heero's head snapped towards me in utter shock.

"No..." I shook my head and started walking ahead of them. The two ran to catch up with me.

"So what's going on Barton?" WuFei asked evening out into my fast pace.

"I just took him out to Dinner that's all." I answered truthfully. "I accidentally knocked him out at the supermarket last night, so I wanted to say sorry."

"Is that all? Damn Barton your not into guys too are you?" All the statement earned was a Yuy-death-glare which scares the shit out of everyone even me. WuFei grinned sheepishly and gave the peace sign to Japanese psycho next to me.

"So Quatre spent the night out with you?" Heero asked suddenly.

"Yes." I nodded.

"Good" a hint of relief was in his tone "Did he enjoy you taking him out?"

"...Well I...I think so why?"

"Do it again."

"What...Oh no I know what your getting at Heero!" I snapped suddenly stopping my fast pace towards our tree, I turned to the shorter boy next to me. "I am not going to be dragged into your stupid little game with Relena, if I want to take Quatre out I have to decide on it not you."

"Then what do you decide?" Heero's glare glued onto me, making a shiver run down my spine.

"I'm going to ask him to come with us clubbing on Saturday night." I answered truthfully "And I'm not doing this on your behalf, you all know I'm sort of bi and I happen to like Quatre."

"Hn. A geek like him?" Anger bubbled inside of me, but instead off acting irrational I just glared back at him. How could somebody be so shallow?

"You need to take a better look at him Heero, if you see half the person I do then you'd reconsider what you just said!" I snarled, "Why don't you stop labelling people as if they are some sort of fashion item, in or out, I like him." With that I turned on my heel suddenly not in the mood to talk to my two friends but to ask Quatre out on Saturday night. I could feel their eyes on me all the way back to the main building. Heero can be a bastard sometimes.

Now where would Quatre be? He told me he liked to practise his violin at break times. Maybe he would be in the music room. Hardly anyone goes to the music rooms at breaks. I stalked my way over to the music block; the corridors empty as everyone was on the field. I stopped outside the double wooden doors of the entrance to the main music room and looked through the two large windows on each door only to see Quatre wasn't alone but with Duo. That's when I noticed Duo was singing, with a guitar balanced on his lap.

_It's driven me before and it seems to be the way_

that everyone else gets around.

But lately I'm beginning to find that when

I drive myself my light is found.

His eyes were closed as he stroked each string, a perfect note coming out of the wooden guitar. My mouth dropped at the sudden rough tone of his voice. I bet this was something Heero didn't know Duo could do. Then again, Heero only takes a look at the crust of a person, he never looks deeper. Perhaps this project will do him some good. I for one didn't know Duo could sing this good. His head bobbed up and down as he sung.

_Whatever tomorrow brings,_

I'll be there with open arms and open eyes, Yeahhh

Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there...I'll be there.

A solo part came as Duo's hands slowly plucked each note. Quatre stood not far off one of his arms crossed over his chest and the other holding his white violin. His head bobbed up and down similar to Duo's. He smiled at his friend who suddenly opened his eyes to stare right at him. Without even looking down at what he was doing his hands moved to changing to different notes.

_Would you choose water over wine?  
_

_Hold the wheel and drive_

Whatever tomorrow brings,

I'll be there with open arms and open eyes, Yeah

Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there...I'll be there.

Do do do do do do do

His fingers slowly stopped leaving the room in total silence when Quatre suddenly broke out into applause. His smile grew even bigger as he slowly placed his violin against the wall. The music room they were in was one of the smallest classrooms in the whole school. Not everyone chooses to do music. The first half of the classroom was taken up by chairs with flip tables attached to them. While the other half was taken by every instrument you can think of and a large teacher's desk. The walls where painted a light cream while the carpet was a dark blue.

"When did you make that up Duo?" Quatre asked excitedly with a bright smile

"Last night to be exact." Duo grinned standing up. "It just came to me while I was helping the kids get cleaned up, do you like it?"

"Like it! I loved it!" Quatre chuckled; Duo gave out a loud yawn as he stretched out. I chose this moment to enter. Two sets of eyes landed on me as soon as I turned the doorknob. Quatre's face lit up instantly while Duo's shoulders dropped. He turned to do other things while I walked towards Quatre who was bouncing on the spot in front of the teacher's desk. I wonder what he would look like draped over...

"Hey!" He beamed "How are you Trowa?"

"I'm OK." I answered quietly watching as Duo packed away his guitar into its case.

"So why'd you track me down here?" Quatre asked in all interest

"Well I just wanted to erm...Ask you out again." Quatre's mouth dropped in shock, while Duo stopped what he was doing to listen in. A few seconds later, Quatre recovered and gave me an bigger smile than before, if that's possible.

"Sure...I would love to go out with you again. When?"

"Saturday night, to a bar in town." I informed, not mentioning the bar happened to be East End Street. The South of the Sanc, were people like us are not supposed to go.

"Sure I'd love to!" He grinned turning to grab his violin, while I heard the zip of Duo's guitar case close.

"I'll see you later Q, I'll put your guitar in your locker." He called leaving the room. Quatre waved after him before resting his violin on his shoulder.

"Can you play an instrument Trowa?" He asked battering his eyelashes a little, I sighed and stared down at my shoes.

"Yes. My father taught me how to play the flute before he died." I felt a hand rest on my shoulder, my head snapped up to meet Quatre's sky blue eyes.

"I'm sorry." He smiled sadly, "Here hold this." He handed me his violin before rounding the teacher's desk. He sorted through the piles of instruments before pulling out a small black box. He placed it on the desk in front of me and opened it to reveal a shining flute. My eyes widened as I eyed the instrument. It's been so long since I'd played it.

Quatre slowly placed each part of the instrument together in front of me. I felt my hands itching to touch it. Slowly he handed it to me, while gathering his violin. The cool metal slipped through my hands and I instantly found myself running my fingers over each key.

"How long has it been since you last played it?" he asked in interest.

"About 9 years," I smiled slightly, "My father taught me how to play...I used to practise all the time and I actually quiet good at it...But..." I frowned. "But when my father died I just gave up...It hurt to play because it reminded me of him."

"Oh...You don't have to play it if you don't want to." Quatre answered quickly obviously thinking he'd just done wrong.

"No...I'd like to play with you." A bright smile lit up on his face as he brought his violin to rest on his shoulder. "So what do you know how to play?"

We played each song that came to our heads before the bell rang. Once again, I felt something warm inside me as we played. He had his eyes on me all the time. I felt a rush flow through my body. He was beautiful. Is it a sin to fall for somebody like him? To fall for an Angel?

**(WuFei POV)**

I am officially giving up on my school life. First I have Sally, super evil bitch Onna that gets on my every nerve and won't leave me alone, come up to me and tell me I smell...Bad! Now what was her reason to come up and say that to me? I thought we were all grown up teenagers who'd gotten past the phase of calling each other smelly. But Noooo its just shows how I am surrounded my idiots and she had the guts to laugh in my face afterwards! Stupid Onna! Injustice of it all.

Anyway, as soon as I have Onna bitch come and say that to me, I have my two best friends fall out over a GUY! God what's the world coming to? All break I sat in silence having a glaring match with Yuy...Ermm he didn't win...cough, cough. I thought I couldn't get any more bored. I know he can't help it when he's in a bad mood.

The bell rang and we both made our way to our second class, which happened to be gym. Now this is a lesson I love. No Onna's to get in your way. Just all those weakling boys who think they can actually play basketball or whatever but actually can't get the damn ball through the damn hoop.

As we were getting changed into our gym clothes, our gym coach came into the locker room and yelled, "Alright guys, I hoped you all had a nice summer holiday!"

There were murmurs round the room that sounded something like, "Just cut to the chase stupid." OK, so that mostly came from me, but I bet the others were thinking it to.

Coach gave out a large stupid grin, which made him look like he'd been smoking some illegal shit. He placed his chunky hands on his hips.

"Everyone! As some of you may know a new Gym teacher has just enrolled in our sports department and has decided to take this class." Oh Wopteefuckingdoo! "Everyone meet Zechs Marquise." At that moment a tall young man, with long blonde hair and burning ice blue eyes walked out the coaches office with a large sickening smirk on his face. I heard Yuy next to me growl lowly as Zechs took his place next to coach. Zechs...Wait a minute...I mentally laughed to myself; this was the guy who nailed Yuy.

"Good morning kids." He purred his eyes sweeping round the room and landing on me for a split second. I felt a shiver run down my spine as I felt his eyes run up and down my body before moving on. Finally, those ghastly blue eyes landed on Yuy next to me and stayed there for the rest of the coach's speech about the correct behaviour when out on the sports field which he has to give to us at the start of every year.

"Anyway kids, I'll hand you over to Zechs now remember be good and I'll be watching you!" He called before exiting the locker room. The sound of the locker room door slamming shut filled the room before Zechs spoke.

"Come on kids, I want you out on that field in five so MOVE IT!" He yelled before exiting the locker room himself.

Five minutes later, found everybody sitting on the grass in the middle of the large school field. The field is surrounded by big wood and metal stands where everyone sits when watching the schools soccer/football matches. Zechs stood at the head of the group with a black folder in his hand as he ticked off everyone in his register.

"Maxwell!" He called. Maxwell meeped a 'Yes' from where he was sat away from everyone with just Quatre. It's lucky Trowa doesn't have gym the same time as us, just the thought of him checking out Quatre in gym shorts while sitting near me makes me feel ill. There was a moment's silence as Zechs glanced over towards the boy and smirked. Heero growled again under his breath something that sounded like 'Damn it all to hell'. He continued with the register calling out everyone's name in turn.

"WuFei!" My head snapped towards our new teacher.

"Present" I stated proudly. I felt his eyes run down my body again before he continued.

"And...Mr Yuy..." He looked up towards Heero who stiffened next to me. Everyone turned to stare at him; defiantly something Heero hates. "I've been told...You're to be the best...In everything."

Heero growled lowly again his murderous cold blue eyes gluing onto his angelic enemy who just gave him a sickening smirk back.

"Alright everyone is here" He grinned. "Now I want to explain what our first class of gym is going to be about. Have any of you ever played Rugby before?"

A few hands went up including Heero's and myself. One year we were sent to a sports camp where we learned to play as well as we could in all sports. My favourite being fencing, while Heero's being football. Amongst the people who had put their hands up was some prat who liked to think he ruled the school but everyone hates. Stupid weakling Onna. His name being Kyle Harrison. One day I know we'll have a serious disagreement.

"Oh good a few, well today I'm going to be teaching you how to do a basic tackle but for now..." He dropped his register to his feet. "...Brats on your feet I want 3 laps around the pitch from all of you and I want no slackers, now run!" He yelled flicking a piece of his golden hair out of his face.

Everyone jumped up from the freshly cut grass and made a break to run around the field, which was currently being used for other lesson's such as art. Of course, Heero and myself took the lead in silence. Behind us, we could hear the other boys getting out of breath. Don't they know that to keep going you have to take deep breathes in and out to gain more oxygen and more energy?

The three laps around the pitch were easy for Heero and myself. We arrived back in front of Zechs in only a matter of minutes while others were still on their second lap. Maxwell and Winner being two of them. The two were so far behind that I bet if I was still going I would have over lapped them for the millionth time by now. They looked like two sunburnt penguins in their black and white gym uniform and red faces.

A good few minutes later, everyone arrived back at the starting line where I'd just finished my stretches with Heero. I'd noticed that our new gym teacher had his eyes on Yuy and myself all the way around the track and while we were working out...Is it weak of myself to admit that I am a bit worried?

"Alright I'm now going to pair you off." The blonde haired devil paired us off and guess what he had himself teamed up with me. It seems we were an uneven group. He spent a good few minutes explaining for the dumbasses of the group. Cough Maxwell cough, cough. What the sport of rugby was and how it had come about in the world.

"Chang, please come to the front of the class with me to show them the first progress of what you guys will know as a Rugby tackle." Zechs chucked me the cats eye ball and smirked. "Now guys, when tackling a player your shoulders should be no higher than their waist. If they are then it's a foul." His eyes swept up and down my body, making me shiver before turning to the group. Why does he keep looking at me like that?

"Now I want you all to watch!" He turned to me and smirked, "Do you want to tackle me or do you want me to do the dirty work?"

I could hear someone in the group of people growl lowly no doubt, it was Heero.

"You tackle since I already have the ball" I muttered not really giving a damn which position I was playing. But if I was running I'd make damn sure he wouldn't catch me so soon. After all, I am not a weak Son of a Bitch. I'll go down with a bang.

"Good choice." He grinned. "One caution...You'd better run fast...GO!" With that I took off onto the field the ball tucked neatly under my arm. I could faintly hear the sounds of the guys scream my name, chanting me on as if I was in a damn game. I glanced over my shoulder to see Zechs was hot on my tail and was closing the gap. I made a sharp turn and ran in the opposite direction. I could see the group of boys out of the corner of my eye, most of them were jumping up and down while others were clapping and cheering me on to go fast. Heero just stood there, glaring like he usually does. His arms crossed over his chest and his head slightly bowed, his chocolate bangs nearly covering his blue eyes.

Suddenly, I felt a hard shove on the bottom of my back, as long tanned arms wrapped around my waist and tugged, pulling me down to the ground with a big bump nearly knocking the wind out of me. One thing for sure, I did go down with a bang. I think I saw stars floating around my head for a second before the male face of Zechs Marquise appeared above me. His blonde hair draped over his shoulder and coiled up in the middle of my stomach. He swiped a piece of his blonde hair behind his ear before smiling.

"I hope that was good for you." He murmured lowly in a husky voice. My heart pounded in my chest. He is beautiful...Oh God I couldn't possibly...No I can't be...Suddenly a hand grabbed onto my arm and dragged me away from under the hot body of Zechs. I suddenly felt a little saddened at the lost of his body pressed upon mine...What the fuck am I going on about! Oh God, those two gay twats have possessed me! The injustice of it all!

"You stay away from him!" Heero's deep nasal voice brought me from my thoughts as he pulled me to my feet. If glares could kill, Zechs would have been blown to bits by now.

Heero's grip around my arm grew tighter as he pulled me behind him. What the hell is he doing? He's making me look like a weak Onna I can take care of myself! And anyway, he didn't even do anything to me. If Heero is concerned about the tackle well that's fucking rugby for you! If he keeps going at this rate, his secret will come out - that's if he makes Zechs or me mad enough. I shook my wrist from his grasp.

"I don't know what your getting at Yuy." Zechs replied, pushing himself up from the ground. He spoke as he began to brush himself down. "I was just seeing if my student was alright, after all that fall was a bit...Hard."

"I don't give a shit, you stay away from him and you stay away from me. If you come anywhere near us or any of my friends again I will kill you." The Japanese boy snarled causing a few gasps around the group.

"You're dismissed Yuy, get out of my lesson now!" The older boy snapped jerking his thumb over his shoulder towards the locker rooms, there was another gasp around the group. Heero Yuy has never been thrown out of a lesson ever. I guess this year is turning out to be eventful one, the bet and now this. "You don't talk like that to me, you hear me go! Scram! Get the hell outta here! I'll talk to you later about your behaviour in my presence now get your spotty ass outta here!"

The Japanese boy gave the coach one last glare before stomping towards the locker room, making sure that he bashed into Zechs on his way past. I heard him mumble something under his breath as he past the coach, who just smirked at the comment. Everyone watched as the perfect student, the most popular boy in the school, the hottest guy every girl dreams about, walked out of the lesson never giving a last glance back at the smirking gym teacher who was watching his ass the whole way.

**TBC...**


	9. The Bet

**Chapter 9**

**The Bet**

**(Heero POV)**

"Get in here Yuy!" Zechs scowled as he opened the tacky red office door. I sighed, not really in the mood to listen to this jackass tell me what to do, he's already ruined my life and my chances with Relena, she's gonna win this fucking bet. Zechs walked swiftly past me and slid into his large leather chair behind the coach's desk. He waved a hand to the seat in front of the desk where probably all the other students who have gotten in trouble in the past have sat.

Zechs whole office was painted the same colour. Red. I hate red. Just like, I hate him. Hn. Him and the colour red go together; they both stand out and are disgusting. At the back of the room was his old dark wood oak desk, the leather chair and the pupil's chair while the walls were chock full of posters of different rugby, baseball, basketball and every other sport stars. They were roughly pined up with staples and were half hanging off. Also, there were different sorts of certificates that the school had won.

In the furthest corner, was a glass trophy cupboard, which was full of medals and various size trophies that had been won over the many years the school had been open. The biggest being when the school won the School State Soccer Championship. I of course, won the game by scoring the winning goal. That was a good day. The floor was covered in a cheep plasticy covering which is normally used in play schools encase a child spills something.

I slowly sat down and waited silently for him to begin his rant about what? Embarrassing him? I hope I did, the bastard deserved it. He was eyeing up WuFei for Gods Sake! He made me sit for an hour doing nothing but stare at the locker room walls while everyone was out on the field playing Rugby. If he weren't my teacher at the moment, I'd kill him.

"Don't be proud of yourself for what you did out there." Zechs spoke suddenly, leaning back in his office chair. "You gained nothing by it, just to make that clear. Though I think you might have lost a bit of your school rep, an Attitude Incident sheet will not look good on your CV."

"Hn." Damn. He knows how to hit the right spots.

"Not only did you embarrass me in front of the whole class you threatened me." The blonde-haired man reached in towards his office drawer and pulled out a blue incident sheet. He placed the sheet in front of him on his desk with a nasty smile.

"I'm not going to apologise if that's what you want me to do!" I snapped, glaring at the bastard. "I'm not going to degrade myself that low."

The blonde man raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think I want you to apologise?" He picked up his Sanc football club pen and placed the tip of the pen on the paper to start writing when suddenly he raised his gaze to mine. Something flashed in his ice blue eyes, which I'd seen too many times to not know what it meant. He'd thought up of something twisted. Twirling his pen in his fingers, he smirked evilly.

"I'll make a bet with you Yuy." Oh no not another one. I rolled my eyes. I'm not in the mood for his mind games. He's probably going to make it so he can win easily.

"What's it this time Zechs," I snarled. "I'm already screwed on the last one."

"I bet you will fall in love with Duo Maxwell by the end of the month." What the...Hell. I felt a weight lifted off my heart. This is too easy there must be a catch.

"What's the catch?"

"Oh no there's no catch." He returned in a pleasant smile showing me his pearly white teeth.

"Your making this too easy Zechs. There must be a catch!" I snapped. "What makes you think I'll fall in love with a GUY like him? Encase you didn't know Zechs you and me were a one off. I didn't know what I was doing for fucks sake, I. Am. Straight, just to set the record." I snapped my mouth shut I'd already said my days worth of words.

"Hmmm but you did enjoy it, didn't you?" He returned with a sickening grin. I snarled and turned away. No I didn't enjoy it, it was the worse experience in my life. One which I would never like to experience again... The sex wasn't good...It wasn't good... I'm not gay...No I'm not...I'm in love with a girl...Relena...I'm not gay...

"I swear there's no catch Yuy." He began to talk again before I could answer his last question...Damn that looks bad. "If you don't fall in love with Duo Maxwell I wont give you an incident sheet. I know the job you're going after when you leave wants a clean report." He let out a small laugh; yes my job after school did want a clean record. I wanted to go and work for the Preventers in the secret department where my father used to work. I remember he always used to tell me how much he loved his job so I decided before I even went to school that I was going to become an undercover agent. They always told me I had a place if I had a clean record. My father then enrolled me in different combat classes before...Anyway how did he find out about it?

"Relena thinks her bedroom is sound proof I can hear everything you two do." My eyes widened...He wouldn't listen to me and her... Well you know. "That's everything Yuy." He let out another chuckle of laughter just to spite me. Sick bastard.

"Alright!" I answered mechanically my mouth setting into a thin line. "I'm in, and I promise you I wont fall in love with Duo Maxwell." I said with more confidence than I've felt in ages. I held out my hand, which he took into a firm handshake. I think he got more pleasure out of it than me. His mouth twisted into a lopsided grin as he eyed me up.

"Well good." He sat back in his seat with a grin. "Let the games begin...Now get the hell outta here and shut the door on your way out Yuy a horrible draft hovers through here during the day."

"Yes sir." I rose from my seat and bowed slightly before rushing towards the door to leave. Just as I placed my hand on the door handle he called out. "And my ass isn't spotty Yuy, it's perfectly fine the way it is."

I smirked slightly as I exited. It was the last comment I had made to him before I left the field. As I entered the boys locker room most of the boys had cleared out for break while Duo and a few others were left behind. You know Duo has the womanliest figure I've ever known a guy to have. All he needs now is long hair maybe plated or something. Hn. That would be the day. I've never actually seen his hair.

I could see him whispering something to his blonde friend Quatre as I grabbed my bag to leave. WuFei had already left; I'm surprised Trowa hasn't come to wait for Quatre, him being so obsessed with the boy and all...Surprisingly.

I exited the boys locker room just as Zechs exited his office. He grinned at me as he left to inspect the locker room for any mess. I hate him, have I ever said that. I slammed open the gym door and exited into the corridor where Trowa was waiting for WuFei to finish having a drink from the water fountain.

"What did he say?" WuFei asked in interest as I leaned against the nearest wall. I folded my arms across my chest as Trowa turned away; I guess he's still upset over our argument over Quatre.

"We made a bet."

"What kind of bet?" WuFei asked from where he was bent over. I guess Zechs wouldn't mind the view of WuFei bending over... Trowa's only visible eye flickered onto me.

"He seems to think that I will fall in love with Maxwell by the end of the Month. Naturally I don't." I almost laughed at the ridiculous thought. I love Relena Peacecraft. I know it for sure.

"What is he crazy?" WuFei exclaimed, glancing up at me as he took another sip. His face was fire red from gym class and he had a few spray pieces of black hair dangling down. Zechs must have made him work extra hard to see him sweat... Sick bastard.

"Seems so," I murmured, "If I don't he said he wouldn't give me an incident sheet."

"That's good then." The Chinese boy answered, "The justice of it all!"

"But what happens if you do?" Trowa almost whispered as he stared at the floor. "What happens if you actually fall for Duo Maxwell?"

"That isn't even a possibility!" I answered quickly. "I'm straight Trowa." There was a silence; the only sound was WuFei slurping on his water. Trowa stared at me for a couple of seconds. Something twinkled in his eyes before he dropped his gaze.

"...Yes...Yes of course." His head nodded slightly as he spoke before patting WuFei on the back. "Come on let's go, I think you've had enough water to last you for the rest of the day WuFei."

"You weren't the one running around all day Trowa." WuFei snapped, straightening his back. "That gym class was damn hard!"

"You, Chang WuFei saying that a gym class was hard?" Trowa asked with amusement, his green eye twinkling.

"Yes...No! Nothing is too hard for me. I am a man God damn it Trowa... Injustice! Trowa why'd you get me to say that for!" Oh no here we go...Well done Trowa.

(**Duo POV)**

Gym class was hard. I think Zechs was pushing us all too hard; I was sweating buckets at the end of it. Even though gym class was hard, it was also interesting in a way. I think there must be something going on between Heero and Zechs. The way Zechs looked at Heero was too...Purvie if that's the way you say it. Then Heero blew up and told him to stay away from him and his friends, the situation just got to fishy to ignore. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Then it happened for the first time Heero was sent out. Man that has never happened before.

"How'd it go last night?" I whispered to Quatre as he got changed, his face was burning red from all the running we'd done.

"Which part? My date with Trowa or my talk with Relena afterwards?" He answered with an angelic smile. You know whenever Quatre smiles, it always seems to light up the room. In fact, Quatre smile is so innocent he could get away with anything.

"Both my ears are open buddy."

"Well the date was really good." Quatre answered in a almost dream like state. "He wanted to take me to Stevens..."

"To where?" What the hell is Stevens?

"Never mind Duo." Quatre rolled his eyes; obviously, the place must be famous for something... "But somehow the booking was cancelled, so I took him for fish and chips and we ended up on Captains Hill."

"I thought he was taking you out," I wondered aloud.

"He was the one who saved me, not the other way round." Quatre corrected me, "I owed him."

"So I guess you had a good time?"

"Yes."

"Well good!" I exclaimed. At least someone's happy and having a good time. My first night went totally wrong! The whole food fight and everything, God I nearly died. I think I nearly revealed my sexual preference when we were washing afterwards. He must suspect something. I watched out of the corner of my eye as Heero entered and left the rest of the gym group followed out after him. I wonder how his talk with Zechs went. He looked pretty pissed walking out of there, but then again when doesn't he look pissed?

"You said you had a chat with Relena?"

"Yes...In fact the girl is nothing what I thought she would be like." My eyes widened as I turned to the blonde boy next to me as he packed his things into his bag.

"Don't tell me you like her Quatre. The girl is worse than the devil times ten!" I exclaimed.

"Actually times 100." Quatre smiled. "She's hiding something, and I can feel it. One minute she's all nice, the next minute she's a raving lunatic who needs to be shot and put down." He turned to me and said with a deadly serious expression, "Seriously Duo, if she carries on like this she'll be dead by the end of the week, she's driving me nuts!"

"Gosh that's something coming from a guy like you Q, it's only been one night!"

"You try living with a bitch like her." The blonde boy seethed. "She kept asking all these questions about my date with Trowa last night that I didn't want her to know. In the end I just told her I was tired and wanted to go to bed. That was when she started to moan about me not helping her with the project." He rolled his eyes. "Now I have to spend all evening with her going over what I do on a typical day at the Winner estate. I bet you a million pounds she cancelled my dinner date with Trowa last night. Did you know she made up a load of crap about him before we went."

"Maybe she's jealous." I laughed jabbing him in the ribs.

"Please don't even joke about that," Quatre cried, "She couldn't be..."

"Well she and Heero have just split up."

"Oh no!"

"I feel for you Quatre." I said in a mocking tone placing my hand on my heart and the other on his shoulder. "Please be careful around the wicked witch of the west. She might kidnap you and hold you for ransom."

"Duo please you're scaring me" We both laughed as I suddenly I felt very thankful that I have Heero as my partner not Relena.

Seeing there was no one left in here except Quatre and myself, I took my hat off and let my braided hair fall out of its hiding place.

"Duo for heavens sake what's that in your hair?!" Quatre squealed like a girl. Foolishly I tired to look over my shoulder to see what my best friend was pointing at.

"What! What is it can you get it out? Please Quatre Please??!" I cried as I twisted and turned trying to grab something that I couldn't see.

"You want me to touch your hair?" He asked surprised and happy that I had asked. I never let people I don't trust touch my hair. I do trust him and he is my best friend. I suppose I can let him touch it. I nodded my head slowly. Smiling brightly he lent towards me placing his hand on my shoulder to stop me from moving.

"Hold still, it looks like its stuck in there" He ordered. I grit my teeth as I heard a few strains of hair break as Quatre tried to pull the whatever it was that's stuck in my hair out. A few seconds later, he'd finished.

"Duo what are you doing with Potato in your hair?" I twirled round and looked down at the large lump of potato, which was probably covered in gravy as it got chucked into my hair last night. The disgusting offending object looked sticky and was covered in little strains of hair. To think I was walking round with that in my hair all day. Ew.

"Duo Maxwell" There was a purring but striking voice from the other side of the room. Both Quatre's head and mine snapped up to see Coach Zechs standing at the other end of the room with his eyebrows raised. "Please could you leave Mr. Winner, I need to have a talk to Mr. Maxwell about school rules." My heart pounded in my chest as my eyes flickered to where my hat was placed on the gym bench. Shit.

Quatre nodded quickly and gathered his things. His eyes wondered worriedly onto me before he quickly left through the gym doors. Chucking the manky piece of potato in the bin on the way out. There was a long silence, as I felt my heart speed up. What happens if he asks me to cut it off? I wouldn't be able to do that; all my memories are locked away in my braid. I shivered slightly as I felt his eyes run up and down my body. Is he eyeing me up?

"I'm afraid Mr. Maxwell that you've broken Rule 22 of the school curriculum." He suddenly started towards me, "Rule 22 states that all boys hair is not allowed to be longer than shoulder length and yours..." He reached out for my braid but I moved away growling slightly and grabbing into a protective lock. I bet I looked like some animal protecting its precious tail. He frowned slightly at my act, his eyes travelled up the long length of my hair. The room was left in another silence, I wouldn't dare break it.

"It's a shame such beautiful hair, like yours has to be covered up." He almost whispered, my eyebrows drew together. What exactly is he getting at? "How many times a week do you have a shower Maxwell?" I felt my cheeks burn, great; I mumbled my answer quickly and quietly remembering I couldn't mention Saturday nights wash.

"What was that?"

"Once!" I almost shouted, he raised his eyebrows at my answer before he realised why. Of course, didn't he realise by my name M. A. X. W. E. L. L. I thought by having the last name Maxwell you where officially known as the schools poorest kid. Obviously, this guy hasn't been here long.

"The Maxwell Church doesn't have much water does it. Well most houses in that part town don't," He murmured quietly, almost sounding as if he was sorry for me...Almost. "Why don't you have showers after gym class, like most of the other boys do?" I felt my cheeks go warm again. Great, what the hells wrong with me? At this rate, I'm gonna reveal all my secrets. Yes that's right I don't go into the shower because of my hair (which is the main reason I use with Quatre) and the fact that I'm 100 gay.

A smirk grew on Zechs face, great he knows. My blush deepened all over my face. I bet I look like a beetroot. He drew closer to me and lent forward to close for comfort. At first, I thought he was going to kiss me it was only when he past my face and started to talk into my ear that I...wait a minute what did he say?

"I'm gay too."

My mouth dropped open as the gym teacher took a step back, and chuckled at the shocked look on my face. How could a guy like him be gay...actually now it explains a lot of things.

"There's nothing bad about it Maxwell." He grinned; "So what if your gay, I think it's brilliant!" I opened my mouth to answer but couldn't find any words. Instead, my mouth flopped open and closed like a fish.

"You know what Maxwell." He spoke with a small smile. "I'm gonna help you out."

I blinked a couple of times trying to catch on what he was going on about and trying to get over the shock of him being gay and all.

"How-" I croaked, I coughed once to clean out my throat. "How are going to help me?"

"You need to wash boy, I'm not denying it," The blonde teacher explained. Why is it that teachers are allowed to have long hair and students can't? I shook myself out of my thoughts as I listened to the teacher in front of me who was forming a plan in his head.

"You can't go in with the other boys because...Well lets just face it getting a hard on while your in a shower with straight jocks is not the best thing that can happen to a guy right?"

"Yes sir" I answered meekly.

"...And you need to wash because..." He winkled his nose at me. "Well...you smell like shit kid"...well thanks sir. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "What do you do at Lunch times?"

"Eat sir"

"Apart from that." Zechs snapped rolled his eyes at me.

"Play my guitar in the music room." Zechs raised an eyebrow at me as I heard him mumble something like "I never even knew people hung around there."

"How would you like to meet me here at lunch time and I'll let you use the showers?" He asked. "You need to clean up your image kid and not only for your health."

"Yes sir." I murmured feeling slightly happy, now I won't have to smell bad around school and around Heero... "Thank you."

"You can bring your own shampoo and stuff." He added quickly. "After all I know how much shampoo is needed on long hair like yours and mine." I felt my heart beat faster, did that mean he was not going to tell the dean about my hair?

"But..."

"I'm not going to tell Duo." He answered. "I can see your hair is precious to you, I would never tell." My heart sailed into the sky.

"Thank you." I smiled. "Thank you so much sir!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." The blonde teacher answered quickly, waving his hand as if to dismiss it before gently picking up my dirty hat off the bench, "You need this."

I nodded and carefully took it from him. Wrapping my braid up into a coil on top of my head I place my hat firmly in its place.

"Meet you here tomorrow no later than 2 understand?"

"Yes sir."

"Now get out of here."

"Yes sir" I grabbed my things from off the gym beach and ran towards the exit before the gym teacher changed his mind. I pray to god please don't let him change his mind. You know what I said before about something going on between him and Heero well maybe Heero could be...Forget it Maxwell never in a million years.

Zechs smiled successfully as he watched Duo Maxwell leave the gym. Seeing the beautiful person he'd just seen, how could Heero Yuy dismiss a guy like that? Of course, the boy had never seen the guys hair. The way the wisps of hair fell down his face and the way the other bits where drawn back, it just made the boy look stunning. Also the fact that he didn't have the stupid hat or glasses covering half his face, Zechs actually got a good look at the boys beautiful violet eyes.

"Heero Yuy you've found yourself an angel." He spoke to himself. "And if you don't take him, I will...How can you not fall in love with that?"

**TBC...**

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	10. The Nail

**Chapter 10**

**The Nail**

**(Heero POV)**

He's sat at that damn organ again. I sighed as I lent against one of the large wooden church doors. I'd just arrived back from having the second football practise of the year with WuFei and Trowa. Coach already told me I'd made the team, which made my day. Actually it wasn't really a surprise, I'm always on it. I am the best player on the team I'd have to say. The others (apart from Trowa and WuFei) are really slow and can't tackle for shit. The good thing is I can whip their ass whenever I want to and I can do it without breaking a sweat.

I winced as Duo hit a wrong note. He stopped for a moment to look down to see where he'd gone wrong before carrying on. The tune he was playing reminded me of funeral music. Perhaps it is funeral music; it had a low sad tune, which would make anyone cry apart from myself.

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed, I need to get started with my project. Maybe I could ask him how he'd learnt to play the piano or what type of music this is...Shit this is hard. Last time I tried to talk to him he just gave me a lame ass answer. I'm not a very talkative person, its fucking annoying that this project is all about communication. I'd rather he'd be doing my life, and then I would be able to stay at my own home and have a shower and sleep in my own bed. I hate this.

Pushing myself away from the large church door I made my way slowly towards the front of the church as I slowly replayed yesterday's conversation with Duo. I inwardly cringed, God that was awkward. I stopped a few feet away from him and cough loudly so he knew I was there.

He spun round in fright again, just like yesterday, but this time I had more common sense to stand away from him instead of being kicked in the shin. He heaved out a large sigh once seeing it was me. Today he was wearing some badly ripped blue jeans, which looked over a 100 years old. He had an old blue belt to hold up what was left of the trousers on his waist. To tell you the truth he is very thin, but I guess orphan kids haven't got anything like chocolate to snack on. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't know what chocolate was. He fiddled with the long sleeves of his pumpkin orange jumper. I almost grimaced at the ugly colour. It's a shame he hasn't got any other clothes. Again, he was wearing that stupid hat on his head, but I could see the little wisps of hair falling down around his face.

"Hi Heero." He murmured blushing slightly. "Have you come to talk?" I nodded slightly; he gulped before glancing round the room. I guess he's trying to find something to say. I could see his hands where shaking from were he was tugging as his jumper sleeve.

"Why don't you sit here?" He spoke suddenly turning back round and moving aside a little so I could sit next to him. The stool looked a little unstable for two people to sit on it. However remembering the bet I sat next to him. I could feel him shaking nervously next to me, he gulped once again and went to open his mouth to speak but I beat him to it.

"You said yesterday you'd started playing the organ from since you can remember. When actually was that?" He closed his mouth and frowned slightly. He squinted one eye partially closed as he bit his lip in deep thought. His cheeks still had a pinkie tint to them. Why was he blushing anyway?

"Since I came to the church." He said suddenly, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Father Maxwell used to play it at Sunday mass. It was my favourite part to watch him play the organ and I knew that when I was old enough or when Father Maxwell would let me touch it, I wanted to play it. When he finally did let me have a go..." His pale fingers ran along the notes gently pressing each one but not hard enough for it to make a sound. His eyes gazed at the ivory keys in awe. "...He taught me how to play every song in the hymn book and others. It was my pride and joy to know how to play it while the other orphans didn't." He glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes before glaring down at his lap where his hands were now fiddling with the material of his ragged jeans. God doesn't this guy ever sit still? "I guess I thought it made me special in some way..." The words kinda struck a note with me as I started to wonder what it would be like to be in Duo's position, not even knowing who your Mother and Father are.

"What was the song you were just playing?" He gave me another quick glance out of the corner of his eyes before he placed his quivering hands on the organ once again.

"The Funeral March." He answered frankly, "Father Maxwell taught it me to play at ceremonies." I documented the piece of information away to write down later as he continued, "When the proper organ player can't come in to play at ceremonies I do the job." He began to play again his fingers hitting the right notes and holding them on for the précised about of time. The tune was played perfectly as he began to talk again, "Like at funerals, the music is supposed to be sad to help people cry...My job is to make people cry..." His fingers stopped for a moment as he murmured very lowly, "Death is supposed to be sad."

I don't think that was said for my ears but I listened carefully to the music as he played it. I have to say that he is very good at the organ; I stared at him as he played. Raw emotion played across his face, his, whatever coloured eyes twinkled in the light of the lit candles on the nearby altar. I could remember the last time I heard this type of music being played... Not wanting to think about I quickly rose from my place on the stool causing Duo to stop playing.

"Are you alright?" He asked partly in confusion and concern.

"Yes of course." I answered taking a deep breath I turned back around to face him.

"You said you play at ceremonies...How many do they exactly have here?" Come on Heero think of more questions you can do it.

Duo lent forward resting his elbows on his knees and his chin in the palm of his right hand. His brows drew together as his head sort of nodded up and down as if counting something.

"About 2 or 3 every month or so." He answered staring off into the distance. "We don't have many here." He shook his head before standing up. I guess not many people want to have their wedding or funeral in a place like this. I guess that might have been the same thing he was thinking; a flash of pain crossed his features.

"We don't get any money that way." I watched as Duo went towards the altar and gently touched his forehead, then his chest before touching his left shoulder and then his right. "Its mostly whenever a street kid is found dead on the streets..." It seemed like he wanted to say more but cut off leaving the room into a deathly silence.

"Do you ever wish you lived somewhere else. If you never actually landed up here?" I knew I would if I was in his shoes. He stopped for a moment as he looked up at a large statute of the Virgin Mary from where he was knelt.

"No." He answered truthfully. "As long as I have somewhere dry to sleep, something to eat every night then...I guess I'm fine. The people here love me for what I am, and I wouldn't want anything else."

"Wouldn't you want to be rich like Quatre?"

"That's one thing I've learnt by living here," Duo spoke with a slight smile on his face. "Money isn't worth everything in the world, if I saw a roll of money on the floor I would give it in not keep it like most people would. Even if it was a pound or something stupid. The thing is it doesn't matter how much money you have. It's what the person inside what counts." God, he's starting to sound like some old wise man.

"Wouldn't you rather have someone you like for them as a person, rather than have someone who is rich?" He turned to me inspecting me to answer. I shrugged my shoulders not really knowing how to respond. I guess I like Relena for who she is, and her reputation of being the richest most powerful girl in school.

Suddenly my mobile ringing broke the silence between us. Feeling around in my pocket, I drew out my silver flip phone and drew it to my ear. Duo in the meanwhile had gone and took a seat in one of the pews, silently praying for something or someone. His head was bent slightly forward and his head and hands together.

"Yuy here, who is it?"

"_Heero you're never going to guess what._" A nasal voice nearly screamed down the phone.

"What is it WuFei?" I asked taking off towards the kitchens, leaving Duo to pray alone.

"_We're going up against Oz High School in three weeks!_" The Chinese boy exclaimed excitedly.

"Nani?" Oz High has never been beaten at Football before. It's said that if they beat every team in the Sanc this year they are going to try out for the state championship. I felt a shiver run up and down my spine. We've never tried against them before because coach said we weren't ready. I guess he's feeling confident enough to let us have a shot.

"_Coach is going to announce it tomorrow but Sally told me on the way home that she'd heard him talking._" WuFei continued sounding even more excited. "_He was negotiating with the Oz coach, she said it sounded like the two where having a fight down the phone about whose going to win plus Sanc Talent scouts are going to be there._"

"Nani?" I felt a rush of excitement run through me; coach had always said that I played like a professional.

"_Yuy, we could get picked up!_" WuFei's voice sighed happily down the phone. "_For all you know this time next week, me, you, or Barton could be on the Sanc professional team earning up to 6 grand a week!_" My heartbeat rose faster just thinking about it. However at the back of my mind I was picturing myself in my dream job at the Preventers.

"WuFei..." I entered the kitchens to get away from the silence of the church. Sister Helen glanced at me from where she was instructing the nuns what to cook for tonight's meal. I felt my stomach rumble. It's hard going without a snack or two before dinner. I normally have a banana or apple before I cook something.

"_I know Yuy, you want that job at the Preventers, but you could be a millionaire by the time your 20 by doing this!_" The Chinese boy continued. "_You could...Say you could join the Preventers after you've had a few years on the team._"

"Don't be so stupid. Hell we don't even know if there are going to be any there for certain yet." I answered as Sister Helen mouthed 'Watch your language in Church'. "We're not even supposed to know that we're playing them yet WuFei, Sally might have miss understood a perfectly different situation. He might have been declining again."

"_You're wrong_." WuFei almost whimpered. I could tell he might have been thinking the same thing but not believing it. After all who would believe Sally. The girls dumb for gods sake.

"How can you trust an Onna?" I smirked

"_Yuy this is not a good subject to joke over._" He snapped. "_I really want this to happen. I need it to happen. My mother is driving me nuts to get married and I want to just get outta town for a while!_"

"She wants you to get married?"

"_Yeah to this stuck up bitch named Gilly!"_ WuFei cringed. "_What kind of name is Gilly anyway. Sounds like a name someone would give to a fish._"

"Hn. Whatever you say WuFei."

"_No seriously she wants me to cook and clean up her mess for her. She thinks she's still in China where she got waited on 24/7 by her maids..._"

"Hn. She's rich then I guess," I muttered. WuFei can go on and on if you let him. I lent against the nearest wall in the kitchen, watching as the nuns raced around getting dinner ready. Looks like they've cooked chicken nuggets and chips. Probably from 'Summer Town' the cheapest supermarket down town. Sister Helen was at the moment chucking another load of chicken nuggets into the large oven. Some of nuns where currently finding all the plates they could to put the food on.

"_Rich?!! She's a billionaire, richer than that blonde dude Trowa likes. She'd be God damn royalty in their house...Hold on wait a minute._" I heard some commotion from the other line as a woman's voice called WuFei to come down stairs for a talk. I grimaced as I heard WuFei shout back and so the argument began. Why can't he be civilised like most people?

"_Look Yuy I have to go._" He said quickly. "_I'd practise if I were you, cya._"

"Yeah." I muttered, "Cya." I snapped my phone shut and drew my eyebrows together. If WuFei was telling the truth about the whole deal, then I guess it would be best if I practised.

"Heero who was that on the phone?" Sister Helen suddenly asked from where she was filling up an old kettle with water from a bottle probably also bought down town. The kettle itself looked about 100 years old and was beaten into an awful shape. It's a wonder how it was still holding together.

"My friend WuFei" I answered mechanically, as I slipped my phone back into my pocket. She set the kettle on the kitchen stove before turning to me. Fishing out a matchbox from her pocket, she spoke,"One of the kids has a stomach bug" She smiled lighting up a match stick with one easy strike.

"It's hard around here, when one kid gets the tummy bug all of them get it..." She bent down and lit the stove with ease before bending down to search through one of the lower kitchen cupboards. Bringing out an old battered blue water bottle, she said "I've had this water bottle since I was a kid." Laying it on a nearby counter she turned to me once again.

"I would guess its over 50 years old now. Whenever a kid is feeling poorly I give them my water bottle and tell them it will make them better...You know what kids are like, if you say something will make it better, they believe you. Then the next thing you know their jumping around again." She laughed. "Just like if they fall over and you tell them you'll kiss the pain away. They actually think it works and they're off playing again."

"What do you do then?" I questioned pushing myself away from the wall. "If they all get it, I mean."

"Oh, they'll all be fine in the morning. The best remedy for a poor stomach is rest," She grinned, "Unless their like one person I know who can't sit still for five minutes." She sighed as a small smile graced her lips.

"Who might that person be?" I asked in interest.

"Gosh you've already spent the day with him and you haven't realised the boy for one never shuts up, he always has to be doing something, playing the organ, basketball with the kids, they all love him around here."

"Nani? Duo plays basketball?"

"Oh yes" She grinned, "I personally think he's one of the best. He always wins the matches against Father Maxwell..." That might be because the man is about 70 years old. "...And he's always out on the drive practising, you've seen the basketball post outside haven't you?"

"Hai." Yeah the old battered up basketball post that looks like it's going to fall down if anyone would touch it. Also its surrounded by nettles so its hard to even get to it.

"Father Maxwell placed that up especially for Duo," Sister Helen informed.

"Duo seems to be the favourite around here I see." I muttered.

"Oh no don't say that!" Sister Helen cried, shaking her head vigorously "We love all our children equally, its just that Duo...Well Duo's been here for a long time."

"How long has he actually been here?" A haunted look appeared on her face as she stared at the tiled floor. It was awhile since she answered.

"Since Father Maxwell found him half dead..." Suddenly a loud whistle erupted from the old brown kettle on the stove, shaking her from her darkened memories. I found myself wanting to ask her more questions about Duo's past, but she turned away from me as her eyes searched the kitchen for something, picking up our conversation from before she carried on as if nothing had been said.

"It's great to see him doing something he enjoys, it just seems a shame he doesn't have anyone to play with." Oh so this is where it's going. She smirked at me, confirming my idea before she quickly snatched up a worn green padded oven glove to pick up the boiling kettle.

She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye as she said, "Could you hold the water bottle up for me as I pour the water in please?" I nodded quickly and leisurely strolled to her side picking up the water bottle on my way and holding it up for her to tip the scorching hot water inside. Once all the liquid was inside I screwed the top back on as she placed the kettle back on the stove.

"You know, I bet Duo would be quite a challenge for you." She grinned.

"Hn."

"Why don't you ask him?" She gently took the water bottle from out of my grip and held it to her clothed chest. "You never know, you might actually get beaten." I snorted at the comment as she swiftly past me going towards the kitchen exit into the gardens.

"Think about it Heero!" She called on her way out, leaving me to silence. The thought of Duo Maxwell's past came back to me. What the hell happened to him? What was he before Father Maxwell found him? Did he have a family or was he just on the streets? You know finding out about Duo Maxwell might not be as dull as I thought. Though I'm not going to get my answers from around here. I wonder if he's even listed in Sanc.

**(Relena POV)**

Blablablablabla. God this kid has one borrrrring life. Doesn't he ever go to parties? Get drunk? Get arrested? At the moment Quatre and myself have been sitting on his garden patio for the past 3 hours, with him going over every single detail of his life. As if I cared to listen. I just sat staring at him, fluttering my eyelashes and smiling whenever he looked my way.

"So that's how it happened." He finished, staring at me as if I was to add a comment.

"Oh wow! Quatre that was such a wonderful story!" I sighed dreamily, resting my chin on the palm of my hand, while fluttering my eyelashes.

"Relena it was about my dog dying," He almost snapped causing me to lean back in my chair away from him. He heaved out a huge sigh as he rolled his eyes.

"You haven't been listening to anything I've been saying for the last few hours have you?" He muttered.

"I have Quatre, honest." I placed my hand over my heart. "I've been listening to everything that's been leaving your mouth." He frowned and glanced down at the new pink notepad laid on the table in front of me, on the first page all was written was 'Notes' in pink pen.

"Sure, though shouldn't you have been making notes or something?"

"I've made notes!" I added quickly, "I've just stored them up here that's all." I tapped my head with my pink pen. "I've got very good memory skills."

He muttered something dark under his breath so quiet that I couldn't hear, but I can bet it was an insult. Why I'd kill him if I weren't doing this stupid bet. I watched as he sat back in his cream wicker chair and crossed his arms over his chest. I have to say Quatre has a good style of clothing. Today he is dressed in a blue Jasper Jeans shirt and a pair of Jasper Jeans. His mother must pick them out for him. Actually now that I think about it; I don't think he's actually mentioned his mother. In fact, I don't think I've truly met her.

"...And to think I gave up all this time for nothing, I could have been doing my homework or going to see if Duo wanted to hang out or..." I'd tell you now if we were in a cartoon a little light bulb would have lit up over my head. Heero's staying at Duo's. Duo is Quatre's best friend.

"Oh Quatre what a wonderful idea!" I squealed happily bouncing out of my chair and around to crouch down next to him, "Lets go and visit your friend Duo. Maybe we could all hang out!"

"Relena are you alright?" The rich kid asked with a frown.

"I'm super, never better!" I exclaimed with a large smile. "Come on!" I pulled him up out of his chair and up the marble steps to his mansion, "We're going to have so much fun with Doo!"

"Duo." He corrected.

"Yeah that's the one." I shrugged my shoulders and carried on pulling him though the house until Rashid opened the mansion door and let us out. The tall bodyguard followed us all the way down the drive where I was heading. I pulled open one of the large gold gates when Rashid suddenly called out.

"Master Quatre sorry to be rude, but you know you're not allowed out without a proper bodyguard." The man informed standing tall and with his right hand behind his back.

"Yes I know Rashid, and no need to apologise." Quatre smiled before turning to me, "Father wont let me out of the house grounds without a bodyguard after he found out what happened at the supermarket. Sorry I didn't inform you but I'm sure Rashid will take us around to Duo's house since you really want to go." I raised my eyebrows slightly. Does he think he's going to get assassinated or something? I should have told his Father before Quatre had the chance to go with Trowa the other night.

"Oh yes sorry, it's my fault." I replied sweetly before bowing in apology. God the sooner I'm outta this place the better. I'm going to go nuts!

"Right this way, Miss Relena, Master Quatre." Rashid bowed and led us towards the mansions large garage.

Five minutes later, we were on the road towards The South of the Sanc – the worst place the daughter of Mr Peacecraft should be going. The people who live here are monsters! They have no idea what the word civilisation means, the streets are always lined with street brats. Most of the houses are boarded up with graffiti all over them- why can't they live in them? As we drove on I noticed most of the buildings had large posters advertising every movie ever made. Half of them were falling off or had been written over or ripped. Poor Heero, I'd hate to live in this part of town. Quatre in the mean time seemed to be getting excited as we drew nearer and nearer to the even murkier houses.

"Oh Duo's going to be so excited, I hardly ever get to come over to his house because of my father!" The blonde exclaimed.

"Oh really. How exciting." I answered dully, leaning my head against the tinted glass of the BMW we were in. It's degrading to be seen around this part of town. But if it means I get to show off the effect I have on Quatre to Heero then it's worth it.

The car came to a slow stop outside a large church with a cracked drive. To tell you the truth the place looks like its been over grown by ivy. In fact, it just looks like one big bush. Parked by a rickety basketball post, I noticed Heero's beautiful sports car. I love that car, and the fact that he takes such good care of it. I always felt pride coming to school in that car. I smiled slightly remembering a time when Heero had driven me up to the top of a hill over looking the sea and made love to me. Hey, wait a minute! Where the hell did that come from?

"Miss Relena?" Quatre shook my arm to get my attention from where he was holding open the car door for me to jump out. I smiled gently and pulled myself out, still thinking over the memory, and how much Heero had taken care of me that day. I grit my teeth, remembering finding him in bed with my brother. And to think I actually trusted him. My hands clenched at my pink skirt. How dare he do that to me? I hate him. Yet...

"Relena are you alright?" It was Quatre's voice that brought me from my thoughts. I nodded silently before he took off towards the over grown church, while Rashid returned to his place in the front seat of the car. I followed closely behind, staring up at the large tower and faintly seeing the glitter of sunshine reflecting off the large bells. The stained glass windows (which were half covered by leaves) were dusty and needed a good clean. God, this place just needed to be done over. How long had it been since someone had cleaned this place? I bet the inside is just as bad. I could faintly hear the sounds of a man laughing from somewhere around the back of the church. Quatre stopped at the large wooden doors which where about 10 times as big as him and took hold of the large gold knocker. The sound of the knocker hitting the wood sounded like a nuclear bomb compared to the silence around us. A few seconds later Duo answered the door. Boy does he have bad taste in clothes. His eyes widened as he realised who was on the other side.

"Hey Duo!" Quatre grinned. "We've come to see you."

"Quatre" Duo spoke before he frowned and said, "Relena." Nice to see you to Geek.

"Can we come in?" Quatre asked pleasantly. God I've come to think this guy never says something bad or in a nasty tone. He's just too...nice.

"Err...Yeah...Of course...Yeah." He stepped aside and pushed the door open further so we could get past him. Quatre beamed as he took in his surroundings. The church itself inside was OK, but it still needed a good clean. By the door in which we had entered was a small area sectioned off for probably baptism services, as there was a small fountain. On each side of the rest of the church were a million rows of pews. While at the front by the large stained glass west end window was an altar filled with candles and a large sliver cross, which glittered as it caught the light from the window. To the right of that was a big organ. Its colossal sliver pipes lined the walls and travelled right up to the ceiling.

"Where's Heero?" Quatre questioned as the two took off down the large aisle. I followed closely behind listening into the conversation while pretending to be too interested in the surroundings to be interested in Heero's whereabouts. Even though he was the main reason why I came here of course.

"Ermmm." Duo hummed. "He was here a minute ago, before he disappeared down to the kitchens." Well at least the boy has some brain to keep away from ugly here. God does he need a bath, he smells like...Gravy?

"Quatre I'm hungry!" I spoke up pulling on his shirt shelve. OK I suppose that was a bit obvious but hey. His head snapped towards me, his blonde locks spinning round with him. He glared at me as if I'd just offended someone.

"We don't have snacks here Relena." Duo answered quickly before walking off towards a corridor, which led away from the church. Oh so that's what it was about. This place is so poor it doesn't have enough money to buy snacks for the kids. "But I'll take you to see Heero if that's why you really wanted to go to the kitchens." Damn. He figured it out quick.

"No thank you." I snarled raising my right lip in disgust. "Why would I want to see him?" I winced slightly at my harsh words before turning to study something else in the church and cutting off the conversation with well...The choir geek.

"How have you been Duo?" Quatre asked nicely to cover up for my sudden out burst. I heard the light sounds of his slightly heeled leather shoes hitting the floor as he made his way over to the geek.

"Great." I heard a mutter "Just fine."

"I hope Heero hasn't been causing much trouble around here." Quatre added as I boredly studied the nearest wall. Why the hell did I ask to come here? Oh yes, The Deal, remember The Deal. You're going to win Miss Relena Peacecraft even if it's the last thing you do. Remember Relena your a sexy young female, who any guy would love to be with.

"No I haven't if you must know." A slightly nasaled voice spoke up. My breath caught in my throat. My heartbeat rose faster as the pounding in my ears got louder. It was him. I could feel his heated gaze on my back. I almost shivered.

"Relena." His deep voice give me butterflies...Shit what the hell am I going on about. This is Heero Yuy we are talking about the King of all Bastards! I spun round with a large smile on my face, wiping every happy memory with him away from my mind. I met his blue eyes and I almost melted on the spot. Today he was wearing a large black Nike jumper, with a small white tick on the top right and dark blue jogging bottoms. I guess he's just come back from football training.

"Heero." I beamed marching up to where blondy was sitting and stood with my hands on my hips before trusting my fabulous body in Quatre's direction. Quatre looked up at me with a questioning face. "How have you been while staying in these..." A smirk grew on my face "...Lovely quarters?" His dark blue eyes narrowed.

"Fine thank you." He answered in almost a snarl. "I hope you've been having the time of your life at Quatre house on your own, I seemed to recall he was out all last night with Trowa." Bastard. I grit my teeth and balled up my fists in anger.

"Yes in fact I got to know the whole family." I answered sweetly. "Very nice people indeed." I watched out the corner of my eye as Quatre smiled.

"Hn." He shrugged his shoulder. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Why we came to see if you two wanted any company that's all." I answered with a brief smile before raising my eyebrows. "But ever since I walked through that front door someone's been spiteful to me. I tell you now I should never have come, and I only did it because I thought Quatre would like to see his best friend!"

"Hn." Heero glared at me once again while Quatre was beaming like a loony. Though the look on Duo's face told me he didn't buy any of it. So sue me. Heero gave me one last glare before turning towards Duo.

"Sister Helen just informed me you were good at basketball." Duo blushed. Awwww how sweet. Someone actually commented he was good at something. Must be the highlight of the year for him, or maybe the century.

"Well..." He murmured taking his gaze to the floor. "I can play, but I don't think I'm that good. When do you wanna play?"

"How about now?"

"Ermmm...Yeah sure."

"Why don't we all have a game together?" Quatre spoke up from where he was sitting on one of the pews. "Relena would you like to play doubles with Heero and Duo?" I almost laughed.

"I don't play basketball Quatre." I patted him on the shoulder, "It would be useless for me to play I don't know any of the positions or rules for that matter."

"Yes you do, it's your favourite sport you told me so." Heero answered flatly, I grit my teeth as he continued, "You told me you used to be on the Sanc Middle School basketball team."

"Oh yes silly me I forgot." I laughed rolling my eyes. "Shame I haven't got anything to change into, I mean I can't play in high heels now can I!"

"Sister Helen might have some spare clothes for you, Relena." Duo spoke up; I watched the smug grin, which spread across Heero's face. "I'm sure she's got some spare trainers, t-shirt and jogging bottoms somewhere."

"Great!" Quatre got up from his seat and jumped up and down excitedly. "Duo where's your ball?"

"In my room I think." Duo answered before running off towards the kitchens. "I'll be back in a moment I'll tell Sister Helen you want some clothes."

So that's how I ended up in the churches shower room changing into white grotty jogging bottoms and a black t-shirt, which was about 5 times too big for me. I stared at myself in the nearest mirror and grimaced. Heero's going to have a field day over this one. The black t-shirt looked like it was over 10 years old, and the only way it was staying together was by the loose stitching. While the white jogging bottoms had mud patches splashed all the way up them and stunk like a skunk. I wonder if they've even been washed in the last week...Don't even think about it Relena. They probably haven't been washed in the last millennium...Ewwww...How the hell do I get myself into these messes?

I clasped my hands together and stared up at the ceiling. Oh God please get me out of this mess please! Just then there was a knock on the door causing me to jump. A second later, Heero called through. I could hear the amusement in his voice. I hate him so much.

"Are you ready, we're all waiting for you."

"Alright, I'm coming!" I snapped. "You ungrateful bastard." I added under my breath as I slipped my feet into the ugly trainers, which Sister Helen had spent ages looking for. I scooped up all my stuff on the floor and headed towards the bathroom door. Opening it with my free hand on the other side I found Heero leaning sexily against the opposite pale cream wall, waiting for me. You know the first time I met him he was leaning against a wall like the way he is now. He uncrossed his arms as a smirk lit up across his face. His eyes travelled up and down my body making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

"About time" He growled making me shiver. "You where taking so long in there I thought you died Relena." I shivered at the way my name rolled off his tongue in such a sexy motion that I almost forgot where I was and why, and even the fact the what he just said was insulting.

"I...I...Ermmm..." I blushed, great, just great. I can't even think of a come back.

"Hey Heero is she out?" Quatre called from where he was standing a little way down the corridor with Duo. Duo had changed into a black tracksuit, which was in a similar condition as mine. Held close to his chest was a was a warn and tatty basketball. I exited the shower room to confirm Quatre's statement, before we all headed off outside. Thank goodness, it's warm outside. I placed my stuff quickly in Quatre's car where Rashid was waiting for us for when we wanted to return to the Winner mansion. He had his trained eyes on us as we all stood on the cracked drive near the basketball net and Heero's lovely car. Even though Rashid's attention was on us, he had small headphones in his ears to keep himself amused while we played.

"I've decided I'm going to have Relena on my team." Heero spoke up suddenly...What the... He turned to look at Duo. "I wanted to play against you. So would you mind going on the other team?"

"Its fine." The choirboy answered while dribbling the ball. Guess what, he still has that damned hat on. What a surprise.

"It's the first to 10 baskets." Heero informed quickly, as he turned to face Duo. He crouched down slightly and eyed up his opponent.

"Ready go." With that Duo dibbled off down the drive away from Heero, while Quatre followed closely behind.

I yawned quietly standing in my place (away from the action) as I watched Heero try his best to knock the ball out of Duo's grip. Duo spun around to the side and skipped past Heero towards the basketball post. Jumping up into the air, he slammed the ball into the hoop with an easy strike leaving Heero staring at him speechless.

"1 to nothing. You're going down Yuy." A grin lit up his heart-shaped face as he passed the ball to Heero to do the next throw in since we couldn't play the game properly. Heero pressed his foot against the post and quickly threw the ball. Wait a minute I'm on his team...OUCH!!!!! The ball whacked me on the head before bouncing off the court. I blinked rapidly as my hand reached up and rubbed the sore spot. It better not bruise or I'll kill them all.

"What the fuck Relena!" Heero yelled his eyes flashing madly as Quatre went to fetch the ball. "You're supposed to catch it!" I blushed at my stupidity before going to help Heero mark Duo as Quatre threw the ball. The ball flew over my head and landed into Heero's hands who'd jumped in front of Duo to get it. Heero took off down the court towards the net, with Duo close behind.

Just as he was about to score Duo jumped up and grabbed the ball, as it was about to go into the net. Spinning away from Heero, Duo took off leaving Heero wondering what the hell was happening. A second later Duo had scored again much to Heero's surprise. I guess it's kind of embarrassing getting beaten by a geek! Wait a minute I'm on Heero's team – Oh the shame! Duo marched away acting like a completely different person. For example, he was walking with a straight back and with pride. Unlike how he is normally. Did you know he slouches all the time? It's like now that Duo is getting into the game and scoring he's transforming into someone different, someone daring, someone more confidant...

"Relena stop standing there and chuck the ball!" Heero yelled from where he was being marked by Quatre and Duo. Snapping out of my day dream I noticed I had my foot against the post and was holding the old ball. I chucked it has hard as I could towards where Heero was standing only for Quatre to reach up and knock it away. Great. Heero glared at me before running off to retrieve the ball. Much to my relief he got there first and was dribbling the ball away from the two, and scored a perfect net.

"Yay go Heero!" I screamed clapping my hands and doing a dance routine with a happy face. All we needed were two more goals...Wait make that three, Duo just scored...Again.

Heero chucked the ball to me and I actually caught it this time. Deciding to dribble the ball away from my two attackers, I ran down to the end of the drive before chucking the ball as hard as I could back up to where Heero was standing. Well I tried to, there must have been a strong wind blowing when I did because it landed straight in the bush near Quatre whose eyes lit up as he grabbed it for a throw in. God I hate basketball, why did I ever like it?

"Duo!" Quatre yelled passing the ball to Duo who dribbled it up to the net passing Heero on the way with lightening speed and scoring a more than perfect goal. God where did this kid learn how to play basketball? He lives in a church, has no money, and yet plays like a pro...Hold on a minute Relena your complimenting a loser here. A geek. Who smells...Real bad...And is very, very unpopular.

Five minutes later, the game stood at 8:4 to them and the look on Heero's face was horrifying. His eyes were squinted into his death glare. He had his perfectly white teeth clenched so hard that his face was screwing up. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead as he tried hard to grab the ball at all costs. It looked as if he was going to explode at any minute. The fact what made it even scarier is that who ever went near him got growled at.

"Relena, I will fucking kill you if you don't help me!" Heero snarled as he passed me, I shivered.

"It's your fault, you got us into this mess!" I snapped angrily back when Quatre threw the ball out towards Duo. Duo grabbed the ball...Oh great...Here comes another goal...Heero ran towards Duo trying to knock the ball out of Duo's grasp who just dribbled it behind his back so Heero couldn't get around. I didn't know a guy could do that. Duo spun around quickly before bouncing the ball between his legs to move it out of Heero's grasp once again. Right at the last second, Duo passed the ball to Quatre who quickly dribbled it to the net and placed it through the hoop.

"One more point buddy!" Duo called out with a large smile, slapping Quatre on the back. I never knew Duo could act like this...Heero snarled towards me as he moodily placed his foot against the basketball post. His dark eyes snapped onto me, as he got ready to chuck the ball. Duo and Quatre in the mean time had decided to give me a chance to get the ball and had gone to stand by the post. Great just GREAT this makes me look like a total loser...And in front of these Geeks.

The ball came sailing towards me; I could see it in slow motion as it came slowly down and towards my hands. I'm going to catch it. I'm actually going to... OH MY GOD!...

...MY NAIL!!!!

I dropped the ball as I let out a painful scream and stared in horror at my broken nail. It was my longest one as well! That bastard! He broke my fucking nail! I let out a long wail as I ripped off the last bit. In the mean time Duo had run to my side picked up the ball and chucked it towards the net getting a goal in one shot, ending the game at 10:4...Well at least Heero scored some.

"Miss Relena what's wrong?! Is your finger broken?" Quatre came rushing up to my side concern written all over his face, while a little way off Heero stood in complete shock. His eyes were wide and his mouth was partly open. At least he's in shock at my poor nail braking.

"My...My nails broken Quatre!" I cried holding my finger out for him to see before cradling it against my chest. "Oh my poor nail, my poor nail!"

"Oh..." Duo raised one eyebrow at Quatre before going to fetch his ball. Yeah well, he wouldn't know what it feels like to lose a perfect nail. Now it's going to look weird because this one is really short and the others are long. I'm a FREAK! "Oh...Poor you Miss Relena?"

"Quatre, I want to go home!" I cried, "This place is so horrible no wonder I broke my precious nail!" A frown came to Quatre's face as he turned to Duo who just shrugged his shoulder.

"I don't mind, I'll cya tomorrow Q." He answered quietly. He drew his damn ball to his chest where he was standing with his shoulders slouched.

"OK thanks Duo. It was a pleasure seeing you Duo...And you...Heero." Quatre glanced quickly at the Japanese boy who was in the same place with the same expression on his face. God it must have really gotten to him. I mean it's not that bad I can just get it replaced.

Quatre escorted me to the car and opened the door to let me in. He quickly ran around to the other side and jumped in himself. Rashid quickly pulled off his headphones and started the car with a roar. Quatre opened the window and stuck out his hand, giving them a last wave as we drove away from the blasted place. Oh...Oh my poor nail.

**TBC...**

REVIEW!!!


	11. Duo's First Shower

**Chapter 11**

**Duo's first Shower**

**(Duo POV)**

"I'll see you later." Quatre whispered to me as he packed away his gym stuff before going to leave. While I waited for everyone to leave so I could get my shower. I slowly put my things away as I watched Heero over the other side of the room. Since last night he's been in a mood. We didn't have any other talk sessions and I'm starting to think that he hates me. Oh yeah right Maxwell you knew that from the start. Why the hell would he like a poor geek like you? I gulped trying not to make my small ego go even lower. Besides you kicked his butt yesterday of course he would be pissed.

"Come on boys I can't wait all day!" Zechs yelled. Today the coach had his long blonde hair up in a ponytail and wore a grey jogging suit. He smiled at WuFei as he passed him. Looks like someone has a little crush. I could hear Heero growl lowly as he followed his friend out of the gym. I guess Heero doesn't like the looks Zechs keeps giving his friend. Perhaps Heero's 110 straight and hates gays. If that's the case my life's over. Or perhaps he's jealous? Dream on Maxwell. Once everyone had left the gym Zechs locked the door behind them before returning to me.

I've decided that Zechs isn't a bad guy after all. He's actually quiet friendly, and he can keep secrets. I thought he was just playing with me the other day, and was going to tell the teachers about my hair as soon as I walked out the locker room door. Though here I am, standing watching him show me how to turn the showers main supply of water on and off so when I leave I'll be able to do it myself. God I really do need a shower. I have to admit sleeping with bits of gravy in your hair is bad, and I need to keep it in some sort of good condition for my show on Saturday night. I've already picked out a song for tomorrow; I just hope everyone else will like it.

"And that's how you do it." Zechs concluded as we backed out of a large cupboard, which held the mains to the water supply and the heating for both the girls and boys locker rooms, "Did you get that Duo?"

"Yes sir." I answered mechanically.

"Good, though this time I'll wait for you to finish in my office. Don't take long or the teachers will start wondering why there are large amounts of water being used at lunch time." He called as he backed away towards his office, his blond hair swinging side to side.

I slowly drew out my shampoo and conditioner, I'd once won at the Maxwell church baseball tournament and soap I'd nicked from the church shower room before stripping off. Father Maxwell and Sister Helen had actually given me my own towel. I think it's because I've actually lived for so long. Sister had sown my name in black swirly writing onto it so nobody would get it mixed up with one of the communal ones. It's actually nice to have something that belongs to me, even though I have to have my name branded across it.

I flipped my towel over the wooden side of the shower room and turned the knob so the water could run freely through the shower head. I sighed as the hot water washed over my body and my glittering cross that hung from my neck. It's great that finally I can have this gravy out of my hair. I've never once had a shower at school and to tell you the truth this seems so weird. My heartbeat rose. What if someone caught me? Just the thought of it made it even more exciting. What if Heero caught me? I think he would scream at the sight of me after all he hates me after what I did to him last night.

I gravely rubbed the shampoo in my hair. God do you know how long it takes me to shampoo my hair normally? I'll have to be extra quick today for Zechs. I placed the bottle on the ground as I breathed in the aroma of strawberries. You know, I just can't help it. I get to carried away when playing things like basketball. It helps me realise the inner me...The real me, which I've kept inside for so many years because of the fear nobody would like me, isn't dead. When I play, I turn into me. I placed my head under the shower head, as I felt tears prick my eyelids. Why is it only when I play games like that, I can be the real me? Wait a minute, I remember; I'm a street kid. Why would anyone like a street kid? I gripped hard at the golden cross that hung around my neck.

"Hey Duo!" I smiled as I recognized that strong voice. I spun round to see a boy much older than myself run towards me his shoulder length mucky blonde hair fluttered in the wind behind him as he ran. He scooped me up in his arms as he reached me and kissed me softly on the head.

"Solo stop it!" I laughed pulling away slightly to look him in the eyes. His blue eyes always reminded me of the ocean, sometimes they could glitter and look peaceful, while other times they could be an outright storm. He placed me back on the ground as we both went and sat against one of the ally walls. I frowned slightly, something was wrong I could sense it. We sat and stared at each other in silence for what seemed for age. With our heads turned to the side and our foreheads touching, for the first time I couldn't find anything to say. His left hand reached up and wiped a few strands of my hair away from my face. I frowned slightly.

"You know I love you Duo." He spoke up suddenly in almost a whisper, and in such a ruff voice it sounded as if he'd just swallowed a pack of razors. I felt my heart beat faster, is that tears in his eyes?

"Aye." I croaked back, now I knew something was wrong. He'd only told me he'd loved me once, which was when we first got together. I didn't believe a guy like him could ever like a guy like me. He called it out to me just as I was about to leave. My heart nearly burst out of my chest that day because I felt so happy. So at peace. I know I'm only 11 years old but by my 9th birthday I was much as an adult as a 40 year old man. I'd grown up along time ago to know when something is up.

"Something's wrong..."The words left my mouth before I even realised it.

He grit his teeth as he turned away from me. His blue eyes dratted off down the alleyway so that they couldn't meet mine. I gripped his hand in mine as I whispered, "Something's wrong Solo and you won't tell me!"

"Nothing!" He yelled suddenly his head snapping towards me, his blue eyes flaring madly before he realised who he just shouted at. He slumped slightly his eyes softening, fixing on the floor. "Nothing..." He said more softly his blue eyes glanced up at me. "Nothings wrong..."

"DUO!" A loud male voice brought me back from my dreams. I was half way though conditioning my hair when I'd just stopped and I think collapsed because Zechs was currently in the middle of trying to keep me up. I guess he'd turned the water off when he rushed in. I blinked rapidly trying to get my eyesight back. The sides of my eyes were fading and my head was boomed against my skull.

'_Don't keep me in the dark._' I grabbed my head as the same words bashed against the sides of my skull '_Don't lie to me_'.

"Duo snap out of it!" Zechs cried shaking me, bringing me to my senses to realise that he was standing over me and I was stark naked. I eyes widened as a brilliant blush spread across my face. I quickly tried to cover myself up as Zechs let out a long sigh of relief. I guess I kind of ruined his jogging top because now he has large wet patches all over it.

"You know when I took on this job of letting you have showers in here, I wasn't expecting you to pass out in the middle of one." He murmured running a hand through his long hair, stripping off his jumper revealing a white t-shirt covering his toned chest. He wrapped his jumper round his waist before moving towards the showers again.

"Sorry sir." I murmured as he chucked me my towel from the shower stall, "It won't happen again." My eyes watched him as he entered the cupboard and turned off the main supply of water. He frowned slightly, as he bit his lip in deep thought before nodding. I quickly got to my feet and wrapped my towel around my lower region so he couldn't see. Grabbing all my bottles of shampoo and conditioner from the shower I returned to my plastic bag on the bench.

"How did that happen?" Zechs asked suddenly. I glanced over my shoulder to see him leaning against the opposite wall staring at the long scar, that ran down from the top of my right shoulder to the middle of my back. I turned back around and continued to squeeze out the extra water out of my hair onto the floor. I hadn't realised but I had been squeezing it so tightly that my knuckles had turned white.

"Its none of your concern." I answered lowly the silence afterwards was so deathly and tense that I felt I had to break it. "It was a bust up, nothing serious."

"A good choir boy like you in a bust up?" I could hear the humour in his voice as I felt my back tense I could feel his eyes run up and down my body.

"Could you stop staring at me?" I snapped, my head-snapping round towards him. I gave him the best glare I could before turning back to what I was doing before he brought up the scar. So yeah, I'm in a pissy mood. I'm always in a pissy mood when people ask me about my past. Do you know how hard it is to keep it all locked up inside when Heero's around. He keeps asking and asking about what I did before I came to the church. I hate it!

"Sorry." He murmured in a sly voice. I glanced over my shoulder to see him turn around so he was facing the wall. "It looks like a nasty scar. When did it happen?" I quickly pulled my boxers and trousers up under my towel before whipping off my towel to dry my upper body.

"Like I said..." I answered sourly. My head bowed as I tried to do up my fly. Droplets of water dribbled down my forehead. "Its none of your concern." The things he's getting into are none of his concern and the memories only belong to me.

"Fair enough." He answered straight away this time. I sighed thankfully, as we brought the conversation away from my scar. "Anyway I hope you feel better after having a shower."

"Yes, and thank you again."

"Oh no, need to thank me." He replied in a happy tone. "At least you'll be able to smell nice for that special someone now."

I mentally laughed. "There's no special someone in my life."

"Oh come on!" Zechs almost cried as I pulled on my shirt. "Hey wait..." I turned round just as he chucked me a bottle of deodorant. "Put this on you'll smell better", I frowned slightly as I sprayed it on myself before placing it on the bench and doing up my shirt.

"You know I'm not blind Duo." He continued as he lent against the wall again. "I've seen the way you look at Heero Yuy." Oh shit... "You like him don't you?" Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Great if he's noticed how many others have. I'm going to be the joke of the fucking school!

"Don't worry," Zechs continued. "I wont tell a soul. I mean I can understand why you like him. He's big, strong, hansom." I felt a blush spread across my cheeks. "I mean he was the best I ever had."...What? My eyes widened at the statement...It's not true.

"You lie!" I gasped, I spun round my mouth moving up and down but no words seemed to come out.

"You ask him." The blond coach continued a large smirk on his face. "Ask him how he and Relena split up. Trust me."

I frowned slightly at his words, as I murmured, "I don't." Before turning around to pull on my large holey jumper. Heero's straight, there's no way he could have slept with Zechs. Even though the whole theory does add up, as to why Heero hates Zechs so much. I would have thought that it would have been Relena doing the cheating not Heero. Maybe Heero Yuy isn't the man who I thought he was, or maybe Zechs is exactly the man I thought he was, a liar. A second later, a hair dryer landed on the bench next to me.

"Relena found us in my bed just moments after." He informed me; with all seriousness. "Duo, I would never tell a lie." Lies...Everyone tells lies. Everyone. I stared at him for a moment before turning my attention to the hair dryer. Maybe I do have a chance. Maybe he's telling the truth. But they're all just maybes. Maybe I could become the King of the Sanc. Yeah, I don't do maybes. I need to do more research into this.

"So what if I like Heero?" I blushed slightly. Why is Zechs suddenly finding out all my secrets that I've kept from everyone else at this school for almost 5 years? "You like WuFei don't you?"

"Indeed I do." He answered straight away with no shame. "Unlike you, I make sure the person I like is mine to keep, and I think he knows it. Its just this time Yuy doesn't like it."

"You'll be fired if they find out."

"But who's going to tell them?" Zechs countered glaring at me as if daring me to tell the school and I'd die. Shame, I'm not afraid of death. I shrugged my shoulders and continued to pack away my things.

"Don't tell anyone about this talk it would ruin Relena..." Zechs spoke suddenly. "Dry your hair quickly...and here." He handed me a small silver key. "Leave the deodorant and hair dryer in my office and lock up when you go, I need my lunch."

With that, the blonde teacher took off towards the locker room doors. He opened the doors with his own set of keys, the sound of the school lunch hour rushed into the room as he called out, "The keys you have are yours, keep them safe for now." With that he shut the door and locked behind him.

**TBC...**


	12. Who the Hell is Duo Maxwell

**Chapter 12**

**Who the Hell is Duo Maxwell**

**(Quatre POV)**

I sighed as Father announced his special news. He was having another party just for the honour of Relena living in our house for the next three weeks. Great. More rich bastards asking me how I'm going to cope when I take over my father's business, which I'm not sure I even want to yet. I hate the fact that my father has already planned my life out before I was born. Well anyway, at least this time Trowa would be able to come to the ball. He's such a nice guy; I never thought he'd be the way he is. It's a surprise that I get on with him as well as I do. We even share the same interest such as playing musical instruments. To tell you the truth, he can play rather well. I couldn't believe it when he asked me out again. I'm going clubbing with him tomorrow night! I've never been clubbing before I wonder what I should wear! Oh Allah! I'll have to go shopping…Wait a minute I'm starting to sound like a girl but... Oh Allah, I wanna look nice for Trowa. Maybe I could buy a nice new top, and jeans…Is that what they wear in clubs? Maybe I should ring Duo and ask him.

I watched as Father raised his glass of wine and smiled to Relena. You know Relena has a weird dress sense; everything she wears has to be pink. Pink skirt, Pink top, pink shoes, pink scrunchy. I might have said this before, but I wouldn't be surprised if her bedroom was pink as well. I bet when she grows up she'll live in a pink house with a pink dog. I frowned slightly as I caught onto what her and my father where talking about, and to say I wasn't happy was an understatement.

"Relena I'm so glad that you're Quatre's partner for this project instead of that Maxwell boy." Father told her, "I've always thought my Quatre was too good for him."

"Oh don't I agree!" Relena replied as she sipped her glass of water as if she was already the Princess of The Sanc. You know I've never said this about anyone before, but I seriously dislike Miss Relena Peacecraft. "Maxwell has a seriously bad reputation at our school Mr. Winner. He's always getting into trouble…"

"I can only guess, he's the class prankster is he?"

"Oh yes." Relena replied. "It's so annoying that when we are trying to work Duo is always interrupting the class…" How dare she! I could feel myself bubble inside. How dare she tell lies about my best friend! Duo never has acted like that at school! I feel like I wanna jump out of my seat rush over to her and slap her so hard on the face her head would snap round.

"Stop lying Relena you…You cow!" I cried suddenly from where I was sitting at the other head of the table. My father turned his attention onto me. You know it's a surprise that I can actually hear or see him from where I'm sitting. Our table is so big as for the fact I have 29 sisters who all have to sit at the table. Everyone's eyes were on me all…2…4…. God I have too many sisters to count.

"Quatre, what a horrible thing to say to our guest!" Father snapped. "Say sorry now!" What does he think I'm still five!

"No" I growled. How dare she talk about my friend that way! It just makes me so sick to think that just because Duo is a "lower class" and from the South they treat him like dirt.

"Quatre…" My father growled in a warning voice.

"No…" I shook my head and went to stand. My chair scrapped painfully back on the floor as I lent my hands on the table to push myself up. "I will not listen to the two of you insult my best friend."

"Quatre I'm giving you one last chance…"

"It's a shame you wont give Duo a chance." I muttered darkly, my head bowed towards the oak table so he couldn't see how much my eyes were ranging at that particular moment. "If you could just look past the fact that he is an orphan or 'lower class' as you may put it, you will see such a beautiful, talented person. Duo isn't the class prankster, but I bet if he was more confident in school he would be the class president."

"Oh Quatre, don't be so silly!" Relena cackled annoyingly, "Duo would never be able to become class president…"

"You know Relena, for a person who people look up to; you do say a load of bull…"

"Quatre get out!" My father yelled his face turning a colour of red from anger, "Go to your room and think about what you have just said to Miss Relena! How dare you treat Relena, the future Princess of the Sanc like that!" I glared at my father.

"I'll go but I wont reconsider or apologise for what I just said." I stomped out of the room, feeling their eyes on my back all the way. I can't believe he wanted me to apologise! To her! After all the trouble, she's caused so far since she's been to this house. If it was anyone else my Father wouldn't bother – however since she blatantly going to be the new Princess of the Sanc he is probably only sucking up to her to get a place in parliament. You know I think when Relena was paired up with somebody for this English project, she was expecting him or her to bow down before her and wait on her 24/7. Well not in this house, gosh I feel so…So MAD! I could hit something.

I ran up the grand staircase and up to my room where I slammed the door shut so hard I bet they heard it all the way downstairs in the dinning room. I jumped on my bed and buried my head within all my pillows and covers, not even bothering to turn on the bedroom lights. I wish Relena wasn't my English partner; just the thought of her makes me sick. At least I've got Trowa to help me through this…That's if he likes me enough, or even likes me at all in…Well that way.

Suddenly there was a knock on my bedroom door. My head snapped over towards the noise as I let out a loud sigh within the darkness. I knew who was going to be the source of all my current problems. Relena Peacecraft.

"Hello?"

"Master Quatre its Rashid." The deep voice called through the door. I let out a long breath of relief; I couldn't deal with Relena yet.

"Come in." I said sitting up and straightening out my clothes. Rashid opened the door and stared into the darkness.

"Master Quatre, is there a reason you're sitting in the dark?" Rashid asked his dark eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

"Oh…no reason…" I blushed slightly before clapping my hands for the lights over my bed to come on. "Have you got a message for me Rashid?"

"Yes…" He held out a note, which had pink writing scrawled across it. Great, a note from Relena…Well at least she didn't come and see me herself. I must have made out the impression for no one to follow me. Perhaps that's way Rashid looks a little on edge. Rashid handed me the note before going to leave the room, just as he was about to close the door he called. "Would you like me to bring you something up to eat Master Quatre? I heard you didn't eat much at dinner."

"No it's OK Rashid, thanks for asking though."

"My pleasure." With that he closed the door. I stared down at the pink letter in front of me. I told you she's obsessed with pink. I guess I'd know what to write about Relena in her life report. Relena Peacecraft is obsessed with the colour pink and likes to wear or write in the colour, any chance she gets. Maybe she would like to get married to the colour when she's older…

Dear Quatre

I'm sorry about Dinner; I never meant to hurt your feels. Duo is a smart and funny guy, and I bet if he was more confident in himself then he would be able to become the class president. Please don't be mad at me, I explained to your father that Duo isn't a bad guy at school, and is very talented. In fact I asked your Father if he could attend my welcome party on Wednesday. Anyway I'm going out with my friends tonight to study, I just thought I'd let you know encase you miss me, or wonder where I am.

Lots of love

Relena Peacecraft xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I smiled happily. Relena had gone out for the night and left me to myself. I bet she thinks by writing me a letter like this means that she has got away with the fact that she was slagging my best friend off to my father. Finally I'll have a moment's rest…I hope she gets run over by a truck while she's out.

**(Heero POV)**

You know its funny; here I am sat in the local library at 7 o'clock on a Friday night hacking into the Sanc's population database and so far, I have found no one who goes by the name Duo Maxwell anywhere. My laptop died on me just as I was about to hack into the files, so I left it charging and came down here. I don't even know why I'm wasting my time finding out about Duo Maxwell's life, but something about him and his secret past sparked something inside of me and now I need to find out as much as I can to satisfy my urges. Its funny part of me is screaming for more, while the other half can't understand why I'm not out partying on this great Friday night. After all I still can't believe it…At school today, at football practise coach told us we were going to be playing against Oz. The hardest high school football team. I really do need to practise and so does the team, but I'm sitting here. In a library. On a Friday Night. Finding out about Duo Maxwell…I have no life.

I glanced around me to make sure nobody was looking and brought up the Sanc Police records, which should have every person listed in Sanc. I deliberately chose a computer that faced a wall and away from everyone in the library. I know that no one in Sanc can help but butt into each other's business. You know I can hack into about anything. I learnt at a really young age how to work a computer to its full potential, my father of course taught me how. It was one of his specialities at the Preventers. On his days off when he would work from home, he would teach me how to do harmless things on the computer such as hack into computer games to change the top score. As I grew up, he began to teach me how to hack into certain coded files. I then came somewhat obsessed with doing it that I learnt how to do it myself by sometimes going through his stuff, which I totally regret, but I have some sort of passion for snooping, which is the urge that is keeping me here tonight.

I glimpsed up as a group of giggling girls entered the library probably to do some studying. Hn. I snorted they were way over dressed to just be studying; I guess they're looking for someone. One of the girls turned to me before turning back to her friends. They all started giggling about something, that was when I realised who was with them. Relena. The blonde headed girl was dressed from head to toe in pink, starting at pink dolly shoes with heels, a deep pink skirt to a light pink shirt. She had her hair up in a bun with a pink scrunchy. God does this girl ever wear a different colour, even still it looks nice on her.

"Heero, what are you doing here?" She asked as she sauntered over to me, while her mates went off to one of the far corners. She rested the hands on the dark wood desk, which held my computer and lent round so she could see what was on my screen. Luckily, I brought up a different Internet page about bikes before she could actually see I was hacking into police files. She thrust her chest forward as if begging me to look down her top. Which of course I complied.

"Hmm…." She murmured the vibrations coming off her chest. "Is that all you came down here to do?" She bounced backwards as she ran a hand over her perfectly smooth hair as she wondered out loud. "I didn't realise the church was that boring!"

"Hn. Could say the same to you Relena," I muttered leaning back in my chair as she glared at me for a moment.

"So how's it going Yuy?" She asked. "You know I still haven't forgiven you for breaking my nail." Hn. I kind of guessed. "Have you got Maxwell turning into goo?"

"With a little more work, I think I have." I smirked as she growled showing teeth.

"I'm almost there with Quatre you know." She snapped. "He'll cave before the end of the week just you watch."

"I've been watching Relena." I sighed resting my elbows on the desk and leaning my chin on the palms of my hands I continued, "And I believe Trowa has an even better chance than you."

"Trowa." Her nostrils flared as she grit her pearly white teeth…I like making her mad, "Trowa!"

"Hai…He told me all about their date. You know the one Quatre took him on." Relena's eyes darkened as she began to heave in deep breaths in and out between the gaps of her teeth.

"Quatre's straight Heero." She snarled. "He told me so!"

"Yeah…" I murmured with a bored expression. "Sure, and to tell you the truth, Trowa only took Quatre out to say 'Sorry' for knocking him out."

"Er huh that's what he told me!" Answered with a stratifying grin on her face, "You should know that Quatre and myself are getting along very well, he tells me everything."

"Hmm…Sure, so what exactly did they do on their date?"

"Why they…" She stopped in her tracks as a frown came to her face. I smirked as I lent forwards in my seat towards her, the chair squeaking as I did so.

"What exactly did they do Relena?" I asked in amusement, she glared at me before running a hand over her perfect hair. She laughed lightly before answering.

"They went to Stevens where else?" I snorted as I sat back again, shaking my head.

"Did Quatre happen to tell you that someone cancelled their table?" Her eyes drifted away from mine, "Someone had cancelled their table 5 minutes before they got there."

"Oh…What a shame…"

"Never mind. They happened to have had a nice time watching Dorothy's Fathers fireworks, you must thank her father for the beautiful display. Myself and Duo also watched them together…Say…Did you see them Relena?" God, I'm in a talkable mood today. I smirked at her.

"You Bastard."

"You know, you're at Quatre's house to learn about his past not his present. Why would he tell you about his current affairs?" I could hear her growling from were she was standing.

"Why…Why…Why don't you shut up for once Heero, you watch! You just see Quatre will be mine!" With that she stomped away seething. I watched as she rejoined her friends luckily over the other side of the Library. She sat down with a huff and grabbed a book before they all started studying while probably talking about guys they liked at school. I wonder where Dorothy is; she's normally with Relena wherever she goes.

Getting back to my work, I scanned down each M page and surprisingly found no Duo Maxwell. I frowned slightly. Everyone had to be listed here…it's illegal not to be…I spent a few minutes hacking into the Church orphan listings. Scanning down all the names from Jake the little boy who hurt himself yesterday, to the twins Harry and Katie, but still no Duo Maxwell. What is Father Maxwell playing at not listing him in Sanc? I sat back in my seat and stared at the screen on the computer, which held so much mystery to Duo Maxwell's life. Why isn't he listed in the Sanc? What ever the reason it is I'm going to find out.

Logging off the computer quickly and jumping to my feet I swiftly marched towards the exit of the library. All the way I could feel Relena's eyes on me, glaring into my back as if she could burn a whole though me. Ah well fuck her, I have more important things on my mind…It's bizarre that the source of them happens to be Duo Maxwell. I pushed open the glass doors to the library and ran across the busy road to where I'd parked my car. Thinking back to when my father was a Preventer I could only remember one reason why a person wasn't listed in the police records. If they were under threat by someone. Though who would Duo be under threat from? He'd been at the orphanage since he could remember. That's all his life right? I jumped into my car and quickly pulled out onto the road. Perhaps the police are hiding something… Perhaps Duo Maxwell wasn't Duo's real name…Perhaps the police didn't know Duo was living here in Sanc…perhaps he's listed somewhere else… I rubbed my tired eyes, surely Father Maxwell will tell me.

15 Minutes later, I arrived at the church. It was starting to get very dark and I had to feel my way towards the church doors. I felt a shiver run down my spine as I entered the church, the only light coming from two solely lit candles at the Altar. You know if I did believe in ghosts there would be no way in hell I would come in here on my own. I quickly made my way down the aisle and towards the kitchens. Strangely there was nobody in there either…I frowned within the darkness of the room. Where was everyone? The place was completely quite, which was strange…Where were all the kids? They couldn't have gone to bed yet…

Suddenly a loud crash from behind me made me jump. I spun around, my heartbeat raised, as I got ready to knock out whoever was behind me. Strangely enough…No body was there. I closed my eyes…Ghosts aren't real Yuy, your just getting carried away. Maybe the church has a cat? I grabbed a nearby knife on the kitchen worktop and made my way towards where the sound came from, which was near the back door. I frowned as I slowly checked that nobody was in the room before opening the back door. The door led out into the gardens, which were completely black except for the shimmer of lights coming from the bunkhouse. I walked out into the garden looking around for someone who could have made the noise when I noticed something. In the tower of the church was a small flickering light. I frowned as I stared up at the large tower. Who the hell would be up there? I didn't know anyone could get up there. The window in which the light was flickering through was broken in various places, with a piece of ripped red curtain draped across the inside.

Deciding to investigate I entered the kitchen again and made my way back into the church. I've never been up to the tower of the church, so I don't exactly know were the steps are. Taking a quick glance round the church, I found that there were no steps. I frowned…something was going on here. Suddenly I could hear some footsteps behind me; I spun round to meet a pair of concerned green eyes.

"Heero what's wrong?" Father Maxwell asked confused before taking a look at the knife in my hand, "Heero what are you doing with that knife?"

"I thought I heard something." I blushed suddenly realising how stupid I must look, "Where is everyone?"

"There all in the bunkhouse Sister Helen and the other nuns are putting on a play." He answered while plucking the knife out of my hand before making his way to the kitchens to replace it. "I was just making my way down there. You must have arrived home when I was in the confession box with my last visitor."

"Must have," I muttered following him as he entered the kitchen, flipping on the light he made his way over to a utility draw to place the knife in. "Father Maxwell I have something important to ask you about." The old priest turned to me with a smile.

"Fire away son," He answered.

"Why isn't Duo Maxwell listed in Sanc?" I watched as his eyebrows drew together. He bit his lip as he thought over his answer.

"Been snooping have you?" He murmured.

"Did you know it's illegal for someone to be living in Sanc and not be listed in the Sanc records?"

"My, my you know your stuff." He chuckled as he ran his hand over his tired face. "The reason he is not listed in Sanc is quite simple."

"And what might that be?"

"Because his real name isn't Duo Maxwell." Te old man replied.

"Then…" I frowned, "What is it then?"

"That my son…Is for you to find out." The old priest smirked as he suddenly went to leave the room, "By the way don't mention any of this to Duo."

"What…He doesn't know?" Confused, I watched as the old man opened the back door.

"Oh he does. Deep down, but he doesn't know it yet." The priest answered confusing me even more. I hate being confused, "When Duo came here he had no name…I helped him gain one."

"He doesn't know his real name, and you're not willing to help him! Or me!" I cried. What the hell was the man thinking! I rushed towards him grabbing hold of his black jacket "You know things about him, he doesn't even know? Then why not remind him?"

"That's your job Heero, remember?" Father Maxwell replied, "Your job is to dig up his past and find the real Duo Maxwell. The one you see now is just a mask, Duo always runs and hides."

**TBC...**


	13. The Show

**Chapter 13**

**The Show**

**(Duo POV)**

I hadn't realised Heero was back from wherever he'd been, until I'd entered the bunkhouse later that night. I slipped in just as Sister Helens play was finishing her play. It's funny to watch the nuns run around dressed up as different characters from, 'Beauty and the Beast'. Some how she'd cox one of the other nuns into being the beast. Luckily, I escaped being that part; once I found out she was going to do the play earlier this morning. I rushed out the room crying I had to catch my bus.

I watched as 'The Beast', magically transformed back into a man/woman. To do this the nuns held up a sheet in front of Sister Jenner, (who was playing the beast) while she stripped out of her costume that had been made by an old fluffy carpet. The sheet dropped to reveal her normal self but dressed in some of the donated men's clothes. She also had an awfully, ugly looking beard on her face to represent the fact that she was a man. The children cheered happily from where they all sat round in a semicircle on the floor.

Heero sat on a nearby bunk bed with Jake and Kate sat at his feet. Looks like the kids have latched onto him. It's funny they always latch straight onto anyone who stays here for a bit. That's why it's great when a new kid joins the church; they always get a warm welcome. When Quatre first came over the guys wouldn't let him leave. They held onto him for dear life. It's going to be hard for them when Heero leaves in three weeks…And for me…I'll go back to being nothing to him…Just like I always was.

Suddenly I realised he was staring at me also. I blushed at the fact he'd caught me gazing over at him. God, I bet he thinks I'm a right geek. I let out a small sigh and went to leave the room; at least I knew where everyone was. It's spooky when you enter the church to find nobody in there. I wondered back to my bedroom in silence, listening to the small applause, which would erupt from the bunkhouse main room every few seconds.

Opening my bedroom door, I let out a loud yawn and pushed it shut with my foot. Though I never heard it slam shut, just into someone.

"ITAI!"…. Great, what have I done now? I swirled around to see Heero rubbing his nose with his right hand, his face scrunched up in pain.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Heero I never…"

"Its OK really don't start… Duo no Baka." What does he mean don't start? And what in space and back does BAKA mean! He entered my bedroom and looked around at all the mess on the floor. I blushed. All over the floor were my dirty clothes, books, papers and other random items. He kicked some of the stuff out of the way, as he made his way to my bed. I felt my heart race. Heero Yuy is in my bedroom; he is now sitting on my bed. It's like a dream come true.

"So you decided to escape the raft of the Nuns and Kids." I asked, as I grabbed some of my clothes off the floor to make the place a little cleaner.

"Hai." Not really knowing what the word meant I just silently nodded my head. He often said that word when talking to me…I wonder what it means. "Duo…" I turned to him as I bent down to pick up a pair of my ripped trousers. "So you've been here for most of your life?"

"Yes…" Please don't ask me about my past, oh god I don't like the sound of this, I hate this. He was frowning slightly obviously thinking over something. Something that was troubling him.

"Father Maxwell said he gave you your name." He said. "How did he come up with it?"

"Well Father Maxwell gave me the name Maxwell," I answered, as I went to place all my clothes into a pile. Sister Helen will be pleased I'm tidying my room; she'll probably send Heero around more often…I wouldn't mind that.

"Who gave you your first name? Your mother?" He asked.

"I don't know my mother." I sighed.

"Your father then?"

I shook my head from where I was in the middle of stacking my papers on the floor in a neat pile. "I gave myself the name Duo."

"Why?" Damn. I dropped myself into this one.

"It reminds me of someone special. I thought by having the name Duo, I would represent the two of us being together as one." I answered, a shiver going through my body as I remembered back. I closed my eyes and gave out a large sigh. I had to tell him, it was part of the reason he was here. Yet I couldn't bring myself to say the name of the person who haunted me every day and night. The first person I ever loved and still do.

"…Who?"

"Just…Someone who looked after me."

"What like a guardian?" He asked interested. I turned to him, he sat with his back lent-up against the wall and his legs sprawled across the bed. I smiled slightly and nodded briefly.

"Yeah…You could say that." I murmured bowing my head avoiding his gaze.

"So what happened to this person?" I felt a sad smile come to my face. What happened to Solo?…The one thing I wished would never happen, happened to him. To say it broke my heart would be an understatement…I nearly…Suddenly Jake and Kate burst into the room, their faces red and their eyes bright. I sighed thankfully that they'd saved me the bother of telling Heero what happened to Solo. Just thinking about it made tears swell up in my eyes. I could feel them pricking at the corners of my eyes, I hope nobody noticed. Boys don't cry.

"Hey what's up?" I asked, as the two ushered round the room. Heero was sat still in his place on the bed, a small frown on his face and looking a little disappointed that he hadn't gained any answers tonight.

"We're playing hide and seek!" Jake cried, "Please help us Duo!" He ran around the room desperately trying to find a place to hide, while Kate hid within my small wardrobe. I laughed merrily as Jake dived to hide under the bed, but soon found that he was not the small child he used to be. His blue eyes flashed around the room.

"Can I hide under the covers by you 'eero?" The little boy gasped, clasping his two mini hands together, as he blinked innocently up at my English partner. Heero frowned for a minute before pulling up my bed covers for the little boy to jump in. "Thanks 'eero!"

"No problem." The boy answered. I shook my head silently as I picked up the last few of my clothes to be washed on Sunday. It takes me hours to wash all my clothes on Sunday, but at least I'm helping the nuns out. I feel sorry for them; they have to wash all the kids clothes too, on top of their own.

A second later, another kid burst into the room. His blonde hair cascaded round his small body, which kinda reminded me of someone for a second. His big eyes beamed at Heero and myself as he fiddled with the sleeve of his small shirt. His name was Adam and I often played soldiers with him in the gardens. The Nuns always tell me off, saying that I'm poisoning his small little mind, but the boy loves it when we go crawling through the mud in the back garden, or shooting each other with pretend guns. The other kids often get jealous thinking that Adam is my favourite out of them all. The truth is I love them all as equals. I know exactly what it feels like to be left out, to feel unloved. So I make it my aim, to give each child my attention. I dedicate days to spend with my kids, and you know what? It breaks my heart to see them leave, when they get adopted. They're all like my little brothers and sisters and I will never forget any of them.

"Officer Duo?" Adam asked slyly. "Has anyone come in here to hide?"

"That's confidential information solider," I answered, with a smirk nodding over towards the bed, where there was a small lump under the cover by Heero. He beamed at me, rushed over to the lump, and jumped on it. A small squeak came from beneath the covers, as Heero pulled them away.

"I've got you, I've got you!" Adam sang in victory, just as a gasp came from within my wardrobe. He also dove for that to reveal Kate. The kids all ran out the room, screaming that I'd revealed where they were, so it wasn't fair. I felt a smile come to my lips as I remembered the times when I used to play with all the other kids. Sister Helen always thought I was the wild one, she always told me to go and hide, and then find me last. I finally realised her dirty tricks after the 1000th time of playing it. The others just thought I was really good at hiding.

"It's getting late." Heero spoke up from where he was. He lifted himself off my bed and moved towards the door, "Night Duo."

"Oh Good Night Heero!" I called after him feeling like a complete prat that he had to make up an lame excuse such as, 'It's getting late', to get away from me. I am officially a loser. Why don't I just get an L tattooed on my forehead? He stopped just as he was about to close the door on me.

"What are you doing tomorrow night?" He asked. I frowned…. Crap.

"Ermmm…. nothing…"

"Great would you like to come to a club with me?" He asked. I think I've just died and gone to heaven. Heero Yuy has asked me, ME! Duo Maxwell! To go clubbing with HIM! I'm dead I must be. Wait a minute…I'm working…. For piss sakes…Sorry lord.

"Quatre's going with Trowa and I wondered if you wanted to come along…"

"I can't." I gritted through my teeth.

"Why not?" He asked, a little annoyed. Shit what is my reason? I can't go, 'Because I'm working tomorrow in a club down town!', I cant lie either….

"I can't go clubbing…. It's against the church rules…You can go though…" It was against the church rules, so I didn't exactly lie. He frowned slightly, before nodding his head in understanding.

"Fine, I'll see you tomorrow…You know I'll be out all tomorrow with Trowa and WuFei?"

"Yes of course." I answered sadly. He nodded again before leaving. Closing the door behind him, I sighed. I'm such a loser…I could have gone on a date with him then and I turned him down…I wonder if anyone has turned him down before? No, no ones that stupid to turn down a date with a sex god. Wait a minute, it wasn't exactly a date he was just wondering if I wanted to go because Quatre was… No use dwelling over what could have happened…That could have been my chance to get in with him…And I blew it. I opened my wardrobe and grabbed my guitar. I needed to practice badly.

…………………………………

**(Trowa POV)**

Its Saturday night, and I need to pick Quatre and Heero up in an hour and I still haven't had a shower yet. I've only just got home, since I've been out with Heero and WuFei all day. The noise of them two complaining all the time gives me a headache. With Heero it's either, 'The church is this, the church is that', 'Duo is a weirdo not coming clubbing'. Blablablablabla, or with WuFei it's, 'I'm not getting married to that bitch', 'She makes me do all the women's jobs!'. I'm sick of it! All I wanted was a nice day, playing basketball and chilling out down at the park. But no! Those two wanted a bitching session. It's like being with a couple of girls. Yuy bitches about anyone or anything; he can look at someone who everyone thinks is perfect and find something wrong with them. The boy's impossible. WuFei…Well…WuFei just rants about his wife to be and injustices. In fact, one particular thing he was pissed about today was that his 'lovely' wife to be had banned him from going out on Saturday nights. Perhaps next time I should just let the two go and play basketball on there own and go over to Quatre's. I really do like him.

I went through my draws and found nothing that screamed out. Great, while I was listening to the queens of bitching, I could have gone and brought a new shirt for tonight. Perhaps I could borrow one of Heero's…Though he's half my size. Think straight Barton. My heart is beating so fast, that I think I'm going to take off. I bet Quatre's gonna be dressed in some designer shit that I can't even afford in one weeks pay. Crap, what am I getting myself into?

I quickly had a shower, appreciating the water as it slid over my body to calm my nerves. It's amazing what effects he actually has on me. I've never felt like this before with anyone. Although I'm going crazy out of my mind now, when I'm with him, I feel…Secure…Comfortable and safe. Exiting the shower, I quickly got changed into a cream shirt and a pair of loose jeans. I wonder what Heero will be wearing. I hope I'm not over dressed…. Since when do I care about what I wear…God. Glancing at my watch, I realised that I had to pick up Heero in 10 minutes. Grabbing a piece of toast on the way out the house, I raced over to Heero's house. Great, not only am I missing a meal but also, my stomach will be rumbling all night. Not having anything will get me drunk faster. Fantastic. Anyway, Heero called earlier and told me to pick him up at his own house where he could have a shower and get ready properly. I parked my car on his drive and thumped the horn for him to notice I'd arrived. A minute later, he raced out of the house wearing a black shirt and black jeans. He jumped into the front meaning Quatre would have to sit in the back. God Damn him.

"You got I.D?" I asked him, as he got into the car.

"Hn." He flashed me a glimpse his passport. I nodded and pulled the car from the drive.

"There's a theme at the club tonight." I told him, as we drove off down the street, Quatre doesn't live far from Heero, they both live in the posh part of Sanc. "They're doing a mix of Spanish and Normal songs."

"Great." It took us another five minutes to get to Quatre's. I missed called him on my mobile to let him know we were outside. At the moment Quatre's grounded, it's quiet amusing that he would climb out his bedroom window at night to get away from Relena. She has no chance with him.

"I'm so glad you asked me out tonight Trowa, Relena was getting so annoying." Quatre suddenly noticed the boy sat in the front seat. "No offence Heero."

"None taken." The moody boy answered.

"So Trowa which club are we going to?" The blonde boy asked, slipping on his seatbelt.

"Underworlds." I heard the boy gasp, as I pulled from his drive. "Anything wrong." I asked glancing in the rear view mirror to see his face had turned as white as a sheet, "Quatre?"

"Underworlds?" He muttered.

"Yeah…"

"Isn't that in East End Street?" The rough part of Sanc.

"Yeah…"

"Oh…" The boy looked a little stunned for a second before shaking his head, "Isn't it dangerous around there?"

"Don't worry Quatre we'll look after you, Heero's a good fighter." Trowa elbowed his friend in the front seat.

"Hn."

"Oh…OK then." The blonde settled back in his seat a little on edge. His eyes wondered off onto the scenery outside of the car. His brows creased together slightly. I know he must be worried, nobody goes down to East End Street. It's so rough people often get shot. Large gangs stand on street corners threatening by passers, while they draw on the walls in multicoloured stray paint. If you ignored the fact that the drawings are, in fact, destruction of the neighbourhood, they are pretty good pieces of art. There was light chatter in the car and I could tell that the boy was nervous. Heero in fact just looked pissed, if it was because of Duo or Relena I didn't know. I don't know what's going on in that boys head these days. I parked in a small car parking lot near the club so we didn't have to walk far. It was around about 11pm that the main act was coming on as I recalled. His name being…Shimi or something. I'd heard the last time I came down that the boy was incredible at singing and performed great shows. The man also advised me to come early, as the club soon would get too full and bouncers would start turning people away. I glanced down at my watch to see we had half an hour until the main show started. I'm lousy at being early to things; I just hope we aren't turned away. I led Quatre and Heero onto the main street, where many nightclubs were. Flashing multicoloured neon lights lit up the black sky, like a display of fireworks. I spied the nightclub that I was aiming to take the two boys to and grabbed Quatre's hand to pull him long, knowing that he'd like the security of knowing I was with him.

I glanced over my shoulder to see a small smile on his face, and his cheeks turn a slight pink. Heero marched forward not once noticing the deep red lights flashing in front of us. The queue was so long I thought I'd cry.

"Trowa, there's no way we're gonna get in there tonight." Heero growled.

"Hey! Look it's Quatre Winner!" One of the bouncers suddenly called. I felt Quatre's hand grip on my arm. "What's a dude like you doing round this place?"

"I'm out with some friends." Quatre stated, his eyes glancing at the queue and then to the door. The bouncer, realising what the boy was hinting at, moved past and nodded.

"Welcome Master Winner, have a nice time." He spoke, as Quatre pulled me through the door and Heero followed silently behind.

I leant forward and whispered, "Thanks," into his ear. He glanced over his shoulder at and gave me a shaky smiled.

The loud music vibrated the dark corridor we had to walk down, to get to the main room. The beat of a well-known song to all of us, reached our ears, as we turned a corner, which led out into the main room. We all stopped, and Quatre and Heero's jaws dropped. We all took in the enormous room. We'd just walked out onto the second floor that held a large bar, where over 30 waiters and waitresses were serving behind. I guessed there was over 500 people on the second floor. All around us were different coloured tables, where people sat on pink fluffy chairs. Around the edge of the room, was a long red sofa. None of the colours matched, but nobody cared. Fixed to the ceiling were long golden polls that led down to the ground floor going through 200 red tables were. The golden polls went straight through the middle of the large tables, which held over 30 people. I was shocked the first time I walked into the club and watched many women and men, slide down the polls onto the tables. Also on the ground floor was a large stage, much like the ones in theatres. At that moment, there was a young looking girl on the stage dancing in the middle of lots of men.

I've seen her before, she also sung last week. She had a beautiful singing voice. Her short brown hair was nearly covered by a large golden top hat. From looking at one of the many large screens, you could see her glittering dark blue eyes. Not as dark as Heero's but close. I felt a light tug on my sleeve, as Quatre began to lead me towards the bar where Heero was heading for. He squeezed his way through the crowds to get to the bar. About five minutes later, he returned with three beers. I grabbed mine and handed Quatre's to him. The music was so loud I could hardly hear myself think or what Heero was saying. He curled his finger at the two of us to motion us to follow him as he moved down to the ground floor. Quatre had a dead lock on my arm the whole time. I could see his aqua eyes snapping around the room for something or other.

We were lucky; Heero had spotted a few empty seats from the second floor and raced down to get them. We'd gotten a seat in the middle of the ground floor, with a great view. Quatre slowly slid into the seat next to me and turned his attention to the girl on the stage. The girl was dressed in a short black dress that spun out like a fan whenever she turned. The dance routine they did was amazing, they're truly professional dancers. The dance slowed down as the song finished and the audience erupted into a great applause.

Quatre stiffly clapped next to me, before there was a loud boom of a male voice coming over the large speakers. Quatre nearly jumped out of his seat and grabbed hold of me.

"Oh shit, Trowa I want to go!" He yelled, as a short fat man staggered onto the stage, he was probably the owner.

"Come on Quatre, the main show's just starting." I said gently, slightly confused as to why he suddenly wanted to go, after all he got us into here didn't he? Quatre took a shaky look towards the stage.

"Please Trowa can't we go to another club?" He pleaded pulling on my arm.

"Trowa shut your little boyfriend up," Heero snarled from where he was sitting, his eyes glued to the stage. I glared at the back of the boy's head before turning to Quatre with an apologetic look.

"OK." I sighed glancing back up towards the stage, where the mad owner was holding a glass of whisky in one hand and a microphone in the other. "But can't we just stay for one song?" Quatre gulped. What is up with him tonight anyway? He slowly nodded his head.

"OK. Thank you Trowa." He smiled slightly and sat back into his seat. "Just for one song?" I nodded silently and turned my attention onto the stage.

"Riiiigggghhhhtttt people!" The mad owner called, with a drunken look on his face. "You know what time it is now…Time…. For…." I watched as Quatre closed his eyes and whispered something over and over to himself, which I couldn't make out. I watched as the mad owner staggered to stay up on the stage for a moment.

"The shoooowww!" He purred finally, sounding much like a lion into his microphone. Quatre's eyes widened as the stage suddenly went into pitch black.

The only light came from the back the stage opening which was outlined in blue flashing lights as the words '_**If its not you, oh no I wont do that**_' was sung by shadows entering the room from the entrance on the stage. Some people began to sing along with the song as it had once been in the pop charts, though this version was sung by both females and males at some parts, creating a totally different sexy effect.

_**'You'll have to wait for me and that is that!'**_

The stage suddenly lit up revealing men and women dressed up in black suits and top hats. In their right hands, they held a staff, which was covered in glittering diamonds. They slandered forward, the look of desire in their eyes as they swayed their hips to the music. Some of the girls had head microphones on and were currently singing the chorus to the song.

_**'Shoulda known, shoulda cared,  
shoulda hung around the kitchen in my underwear,  
Acting like a lady oh,  
shoulda made me,  
shoulda jumped a little higher,  
shoulda fluttered my mascara like a butterfly,  
instead of being lazy,  
it woulda saved me'**_

A girl stepped forward so she was in front of all the dancers. She had a large grin on her face and sparkling blue eyes that were plastered in heavy make-up. Her pert mouth was covered in glistening fireman's red lipstick. She had very short black hair, which was mostly covered by her black top hat. She was quiet small compared to the other dancers but was just as good. She also had a head microphone on; she swung her hips in a circle as she sung her solo.

_**'Someone save my heart today  
will someone turn the light back on?  
Cos ever since you went away,  
the other rights just feel so wrong'**_

The lights suddenly flickered as off, as a large screen above the stage turned on. A figure appeared on the screen, it had its bare back facing the crowd (who had suddenly gone into a mad riot) with a neat thick braid placed down the middle of it. I saw Quatre's eyes glue onto the screen as the person rolled its shoulder blades back like a prowling lion as the girls sung. Heero and I glanced at each other - It was Shinigami. His name ran across the large screens in red through out the club as people got out of their chairs screaming his name.

_**'That special something, that they are hunting  
they're always wanting more and more  
that special something, that they are hunting  
they're always wanting more and more'**_

The TV went off while the dancers on the stage started to do a routine dance. The dancers slammed their staffs onto the floor before doing a fancy step around them, their left hand in the air and rolling round in circler motions. More people from the top floor had come down to the ground floor to watch the show, we were very lucky to get our seats. The place was getting pretty packed; no wonder the man warned me about the place getting full.

_**'Nobody sees the show  
until my heart says so  
if its not you oh no  
I wont do that  
boy if you want to be my speciality  
you'll have to wait for me and that is that'**_

They pulled their hats off their heads and held them out straight in front of them, before twirling around on the spot and placing them back on their heads. The girls all joined hands with a selected male dancer who lifted them up in the air while they held their hands above their heads in a statue. The lights flickered on and off quickly casting shadows across the large room as the cheering got considerably louder.

_**'I wont ooo unless you want me to  
I want you, get in the queue  
I wont ooo unless you want me to  
I want you, get in the queue **_

_**The stage fell into blackness again, so none of the dancers on the stage could be seen.'**_

At the back of the stage, a screen lit up outlining a persons figure. The screen outlined the person's body so perfectly that it looked like the figure was wearing nothing but a top hat. Once again, the crowds had gone into a mad frenzy as the figure danced erotically behind it. I grinned; Heero's eyes were glued to the slender outline of the boy as he ran his hands up his body. It's body moved gracefully behind the screen to the beat of the music – the outline of it's braided hair could be seen swishing after it.

_**'That special something, that they are hunting  
they're always wanting more and more  
that special something, that they are hunting  
they're always wanting more and more'**_

The stage lit up again as the dancers slowly made their way off the stage. They all danced randomly round the room, while others climbed onto the round tables. Blue and pink lights shone around the room, as men and women held out money for a certain dancer to take.

_**'Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh'**_

The same woman dancer who had sung at the beginning strolled ever other man and stopped at the panic stricken Quatre. Slowly running her hand under his chin as she straddled his waist she sung.

_**'Shoulda made me now**_

_**Coulda saved me now  
shoulda made me now **_

_**Coulda saved me now' **_

Getting up from his lap she slowly crouched down in front of him swaying her hips all the way down. Suddenly I felt a flare of jealously flow through me like a tap. I fixed my eyes madly onto the woman who had currently taken up all of Quatre's attention. I wish I could do something like that to get Quatre's attention. The look on Quatre's face at the moment was cross between pure horror and shock.

_**'Shoulda known shoulda cared  
shoulda hung around the kitchen in my underwear  
acting like a lady (shoulda made me now)  
shoulda made me oh (coulda saved me now)'**_

She did a backwards roll away from him and gave him a little smile before skipping towards the stage. Her pink stilettos, which could be seen under her outfit clipping on the floor. All the dancers grabbed money out of waving hands as they passed. I glanced at Quatre who was sitting still in his chair. Did he like it or didn't he? I hope he didn't. The girls returned to their respected male dancers as they did the final routine dance for the song.

_**'Shoulda jumped a little higher  
shoulda fluttered my mascara like a butterfly  
instead of being lazy (shoulda made me now)  
it woulda saved me (coulda saved me now) **_

_**ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh'**_

The stage went quiet as everyone waited. They knew that was only a taster at what was about to come. Shinigami was about to make his appearance, and Quatre looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

TBC….


	14. Are you Ready?

**Chapter14**

**Are you Ready?**

**(Quatre POV)**

The crowd went completely quiet, all waiting in anticipation for the main show to start. I could feel my heart pounding in my ears like thunderous drums. This was it. This was the end of Duo's secret life...All thanks to me...What have i done? If only I didn't get us into the club...I didn't think this would actually be Duo's club, he never told me the name of it I don't think. I just hope Trowa and Heero don't recognise him or his secret would be out. Knowing Heero he'd tell Relena, who would tell everyone in site. Sometimes I just don't think. Please forgive me Duo…

Suddenly the band on stage started a new tune as an oh-so familiar voice spoke from the speakers.

_**"Are you ready?" **_

The girl who'd danced in front of me, also known as Hilde, answered back, _**"Boy I'm Ready."**_ She then let a small seductive laugh from her place in the shadows on the stage.

I've only met Hilde once or twice before, she'd instantly recognised me when she came on stage. Which was the reason why she danced in front of me. I thought my life was over at that point. I felt as if my every nerve was on end and I was going to die, and no doubt go to hell for what I have done to my friend. I hated the way she smirked at me. Hilde is a very bubbly person, and she has her own reasons for dancing tonight as well. The first time I'd met her we'd gotten on well, though Duo told me she was in a spot of trouble with the gangs around town and was in a lot of debt.

The music suddenly cut, as there was a loud bang. I nearly jumped out of my skin! I looked up to find millions of tiny pieces of sparkling sliver confetti drifting from the ceiling in a grey cloud as many dancers had slid half way down the large golden poles above. A Spanish guitar sounded through the speakers, playing the first few notes of a rather seductive tune. The dancers twirled round on their poles in the air. Duo had often talked about the hours of practise he had to put into getting his pole skills perfected. He'd told me about the training he had to undertake last year. I smirked as Heero and Trowa suddenly looked pissed for being covered in confetti. Heero had a million and one pieces stuck in his spiky hair. I've probably got many pieces in my hair too, yet again so did everyone else. The floor was covered in the stuff.

_**"Esta Noche Bailamos, De Noite - da mi vida."**_ Crap! Why the hell does his voice sound so close? I looked up at the pole above our table. I could clearly make out the dancer on it. The boy wearing no glasses, but a black mask covering the skin around his eyes. He wore a hat, which reminded me of the one the mask of zero wore. He also was dressed in a suit and I could recognise him from a mile away.

"_**Quedate conmigo."**_ Oh shit, Duo what the hell are you doing? At the moment his braid was hidden underneath his hat, no doubt it would be cleanly washed and beautiful. My heart raced...oh Allah, kill me now, kill me now, kill me...

There was a loud bang as he jumped down the last bit the pole. The music cut as he landed in a crouch in the middle of the table. The room was silent as he crouched in the middle of the table his head bowed, his face hidden within the shadows. Everyone sat still waiting. White lights surged around the room like searchlights, sweeping over everyone's faces. Suddenly he sung...

_**"Tonight we dance, I leave my life in your hands."**_ His voice was low in an erotic groan. He lifted his head slowly, his shimmering, deadly, violet eyes falling on me._**"We take the floor."**_ He slowly got to his feet, his gaze never leaving mine. I could see out the corner of my eye Trowa glaring at the boy on our table. Could he be jealous? Heero next to him had his mouth wide open. _**"Nothing is forbidden any more." **_

_**"Don't let the world in outside, don't let a moment go by."**_ He spun round on the pole in the middle of the table. _**"Nothing can stop us tonight!" **_He suddenly ripped his hat from his head, his braid falling down his back like a snake. _**"Bailamos!!"**_ He bowed quickly and chucked his hat to the right, it landing straight into Heero's lap. What a coincident. I think Heero is about to have a heart attack.

_**"Let the rhythm take you over Bailamos!"**_ He twirled round again. _**"Te quiero amor mio – Bailamos!"**_ Hilde joined him on the table wearing her suit. He twirled her round quickly. _**"Wanna live this night forever - Bailamos, Te quiero amor mio - Te quiero!"**_

Everyone watched sharply as Hilde stared into the violet eyes as she slowly slipped his black jacket off, the two of them doing the basic step to the mambo. The jacket dropped to the floor, to reveal a half unbuttoned black shirt. I could clearly see the sparkling golden cross that hung from his neck. She ran her hands through his hair and pulled on the velvet bow holding his mask in place. It fell from his face like a leaf from a tree, revealing one of the most beautiful people alive. I heard Heero faintly take in a breath of air and Trowa's one visible green eye widen. The other dancers all gained a partner also and started to do an erotic dance routine.

_**"Tonight I'm yours."**_ He murmured huskily, as she let go twirling around on the pole in the middle of the table. Duo walked around the edge of the table. _**"We can make it happen I'm so sure."**_ I felt my heart beat fast; I could feel his eyes on me as I glared down at my lap. A second later, I looked up to find him right in front of me. _**"I won't let it go..."**_ He suddenly dropped to his knees, crawling around in front of me. Leaning forward he whispered into my ear in a moaning sexy tone. _**"There is something I think you should know." **_

_**"I won't be leaving your side."**_ He continued, running his hands over my shoulders, his face so close to mine that our foreheads touched. I stared into his deep violet eyes, which twinkled in the light, but found nothing. Not a 'What are you doing here?' look or 'Our friendship is over'. They where blank. _**"We're going to dance through the night, I want to reach for the stars!"**_ He suddenly backed away, doing a backwards roll into the middle of the table.

_**"Bailamos - let the rhythm take you over Bailamos!"**_ He jumped to his feet and grabbed Hilde's hand she twirled into him her back to his chest. They swayed for a moment, until she spun out, him grabbing hold of her trousers, which ripped off revealing a pair of read hot pants. At the same time, the other dancers did the same move, but the other females were all dressed in purple hot pants. _**"Te quiero amor mio – Bailamos!"**_ The two of them did a professional salsa dance routine, which I'd only seen in the movies. I could see the others on the table watching the way their hips wiggled as they did their steps. Duo is truly an amazing person. Hilde flicked her leg out here and there, as they danced. _**"Wanna live this night forever - Bailamos!"**_

Hilde twirled around on her own for a moment like a whirlwind. So fast that I couldn't see her facial features. She suddenly dropped backwards and Duo caught her just as she was about to bash into the table. He lent down, his face close to hers neck as he sung, _**"Te quiero amor mio - Te quiero!" **_His voice was low and sounded like pure sex. He looked like a hungry vampire waiting to strike.

Suddenly the stage lit up to show many dancers on their way down into the crowd, singing in harmony _**"Whoaaaa"**_. Most of the men were dressed the same as Duo but in white shirts minus the golden cross. They all sauntered around the large tables, some stopping to give men and women lap dances while others dancing around the tables. Duo in the meantime had dropped to his knees as Hilde swung around on the large pole in the middle of the table.

"_**Tonight we dance."**_ He murmured, as he crawled on the edge of the table past everyone, they all handed out money, which he greatly accepted. _**"Like no tomorrow."**_ I nibbled on the inside of my bottom lip. Please Duo stay away from…I closed my eyes as my worst nightmare came true. Duo crawled in front of Heero; with the most suicidal grin, I've ever seen. Duo please don't do anything stupid please…Remember he's straight…Duo please don't do anything stupid! Oh Allah! Heero was still gripping onto the hat Duo had chucked him earlier so tight his knuckles were turning white. His deep blue eyes were staring up at Duo. Duo stopped in front of him, his eyes burning into the boy as he raised his hand and ran it down the boy's chest as he sung, _**"If you will stay with me."**_ Heero's eyes widened even more if possible; I could see him shaking in his seat. Duo leant forward a seductive grin on his face as he whispered, _**"Te quiero mi amor."**_

He slowly backed away as a musical solo came. He stood with his eyes cast down on Heero who looked like he'd gone into shock before Hilde pulled on his hand and the two dismounted the table. There is no way in a million years Duo would have done that at school, but here…It's like he is a completely different person…Shingimi. Shinigimi is loud and menacing, the complete opposite to Duo from the Maxwell Church. Duo and Hilde moved through the other dancers, the crowd going wild as people called for Shingimi to dance on their table. Money was held high in the air for the dancers, but Duo continued towards the stage singing quietly. _**"Quidate conmigo." **_He danced with other dancers as he past them, while Hilde had stopped on the way to give a man a quick lap dance. _**"Esta Noche – Bailamos."**_

By the time he'd reached the stage most of the dancers had returned. He grabbed the hand of the nearest female dancer and continued to dance. All of them doing a fast Salsa routine that amazed the crowd. The girl he'd chosen to dance with was a small blonde, with deep red lipstick and blazing blue eyes.

"_**Bailamos - let the rhythm take you over Bailamos!"**_ The dance became more dramatic as the dancers poured their hearts and soul into the dancing. _**"Te quiero amor mio – Bailamos!"**_ I took a second to take a glance at Trowa to find he had a deep frown on his face as if he was in deep thought. He was staring intensely at Duo, watching his every move. I felt my heart beat raise… _**"Wanna live this night forever – Bailamos!" **_His eyes suddenly flickered onto me. Oh Allah he caught me watching him…I felt my heart race even faster. I bet I've turned pink. _**"Te quiero amor mio Bailamos!" **_

The dancers continued to sing the basic chorus. All doing their routine as Hilde joined Duo again on the stage as he yelled, _**"Como te quiero!"**_ Over and over before he shouted it one last time and the music cut and the stage fell pitch black.

The crowd suddenly went crazy as everyone jumped from their seat in a standing applause. Even Trowa and Heero did it; I slowly stood and followed their actions. Some people even had gotten up on their tables yelling for more. When the stage lights came back revealing only the drunk mad owner everyone protested.

"You want more of Shingimi and his Dancing Demons?" Everyone cheered a yes, as a crowd of people began to stamp their feet on the floor for an on core shouting, 'Shingimi!' At the tops of their lungs. The mad owner smirked, "As you wish." The stage went black.

**(Trowa POV)**

There was about five minutes of silence as the crowd waited for a new song to start. A new beat started up for a new song, the crowd went crazy and so did Heero and yet I can't help but think there's something not right here. For starters, Quatre's acting very weird, he's on edge all the time. His eyes keep shifting around the room and he keeps jumping. Something is up with him, yet I can't think what. The second thing is…I've defiantly heard that voice before. Yet it didn't belong to the so-called Shingimi in this club. I've been racking my brain for the last few minutes thinking who it could be, and now I feel like tearing my hair out. Suddenly the demon voice sung again.

"_**You call me on the phone, I act like nothings going on." **_His sexy rough voice sung. My head snapped up from where it was coming from on the second floor. He'd emerged from the bar entrance followed by 3 dancers. This time he was dressed in a pair of ripped jeans and the same black shirt. _**"We're driving in my car, I pretend that you don't turn me on."**_

The girl, who danced with Quatre, voice sounded out from within the shadows on the stage. _**"Ah ah ah."**_

"_**You sexy thing, yeah you know it,"**_ Shingimi replied as he climbed onto the bar. _**"Yeah."**_

The people sat at the bar watched him with their mouths open and eyes wide. Just like Yuy next to me. He hasn't taken his eyes off the boy since he'd come out, his drink is still untouched. For God's sake, I swear he's in denial of his own feelings. I just wish he would think about the possibility of him being gay instead of dismissing it. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see him taking in every bit of detail about the boy. He had a slight frown on his face and his fingers were rubbing on the material of the hat in his lap.

_**"Ah ah ah."**_

"_**You move around now you show it."**_ Shingimi sung as he slandered down the bar, his shoulders moving like a jungle cat. He vibrant violet eyes were eyeing up everyone up he passed, there was something about the boy that made him so incredible sexy in a mysterious way. My eyes swung onto the braid swishing behind him as he walked. How could a guy like him keep all that hair clean? It would take about 2 bottles to wash it all and 10 hours to dry it.

"_**I'm not in love!"**_ He cried moving his hips in a jagged movement to the beat of the music. _**"It's just a phase that I'm going through!"**_ The people sat at the bar had wide eyes all of them watching Shingimi in front of them. He slowly crouched down, his hips swaying all the way. The girl in front of him leaned forward as he grinned, _**"I'm always looking for something new."**_ His finger trailed under her chin and she looked like she was about to die. _**"But don't go running away." **_

OK. This is strange. The sign outside the club says that Shingimi's work is all original, meaning songs, dance routines, the works. Then how come Quatre knows all the words to the song? I can hear him singing along to it next to me, knowing every word as it comes. Something very strange is going on here, and I need answers and fast.

"_**Come on."**_ The girl moaned from within the shadows. _**"I know you not the one, but i can tell that this is gonna be fun."**_ She walked around in the shadows of the stage. Lights flickered onto her once every so often, as she took a few steps. She was now wearing a short black dress, from were I can see from where I'm sat it looks very revealing with a low cut neck. _**"I won't hesitate a lie, but I can show you what to feel inside."**_

"_**Show me how to feel it."**_ Shingimi replied in a groaning voice as he slipped off the bar in one swift movement. He leaned against the bar rolling his shoulders back one by one in a sexy motion.

"_**Ah ah ah!"**_ The girl replied.

"_**You sexy thing. Yeah you know it."**_ He sung pushing himself away from the bar and sauntering around the upstairs. _**"Yeah."**_ Ten other dancers had joined him from behind as he reached the large grand staircase to get to the bottom floor. He took one-step down as the others stayed at the top watching.

"_**Ah ah ah."**_

"_**You move around now you show it." **_He took a few quick steps down and the other dancers began to descend, all moving their hips in erotic motions.

"_**I'm not in love!"**_ He yelled as the dancers behind him collapsed and he jumped down a few steps. _**"It's just a phase that I'm going through."**_ He got to the bottom as the stage lit up and showed the girl who'd lap danced Quatre earlier. She descended the stage stairs so they were opposite each other on the ground floor. _**"I'm always looking for something new, don't go running away."**_

The two of them started to dance mirroring each other's moves as Shingimi sung, _**"Oh I'm not in love, I try to tell myself all the time."**_ The other dancers followed behind Shingimi doing the same dance routine that I'd seen when I went on a trip to Cuba once. They all wiggled their hips as they did the professional steps to the dance.

"_**I just can't help how I feel tonight, so don't go running away, yeah."**_ They came to a collision in the middle, one grabbing the other in a dramatic movement as if they were in a Shakespeare play. I supposed that's what this is really, a play while they sing their music. The dancing is the acting while Shingimi sings. All the dancers grabbed a partner as Shingimi joined the female dancer.

She ran her hand through his hair as he sung to her. _**"I'm not in love."**_ He murmured as if he was unconvinced.

"_**I think I'm too young." **_She replied, her eyes blazing into his.

"_**I'm not in love."**_

"_**All the times before."**_

"_**I'm not in love."**_

"_**Just run away with me."**_

"_**I'm not in love."**_ He sung again as she slowly lent back.

"_**Ah ah ah."**_ She moaned as he dropped his head, his lips close to her barely covered chest as he trailed his way up to the base of her next mumbling, **"You sexy thing yeah you know it."** I could see Heero next to me almost glaring at the girl. Funny…for a straight guy…

"_**You wanna take a ride with me?"**_ She replied. _**"Ah ah ah."**_

His lips trailed up again so their faces were level with each other before he replied, _**"You move around now you show it."**_

"_**But you can't spend the night with me."**_ She sung pushing him away from her. She trailed off towards the stage him following her on the way. The other dancers followed mounting the stage through the side stairs not the middle.

"_**I'm not in love, it's just a phase that I'm going through."**_ He sung at the top of his lungs. _**"I'm always looking for something new, don't go running away."**_

I turned to my left to find Quatre sat in his seat looking a little calmer than last time I looked. His eyes were glued onto the two in the middle of the stage as Shingimi caught up with the girl and spun her around while singing, _**"Oh I'm not in love, I try to tell myself all the time."**_ Dancers surrounded them as they danced with each other. _**"I just can't help how I feel tonight, so don't go running away." **_He grabbed her as she tried to push him away again.

"_**I'm not in love."**_

"_**I'm not in love!"**_ She repeated as they meshed their bodies together. The dancers followed their movements acting like a mirror.

"_**No no no no no."**_ He yelled the two of them moving their hips together. _**"I'm not in love!"**_

"_**I'm not in love."**_

"_**No no no no no!"**_ He yelled one last time before the stage fell black and then the two yelled _**"I'M NOT IN LOVE!"**_ One last time.

The crowd went mad, many jumping out of their seats. I had to admit the boy was incredibly talented. Quatre stood from his seat clapping lightly, as he went on his tiptoes to watch the dancers and Shingimi bow on the stage before leaving. I frowned as I could hear him muttering under his breath and my eyes widened as I made out what he was saying.

'Well done Duo…'

**(Heero POV)**

The drive home was strange, to say the least. It was quiet all the way. All of us seemed to be in our own thoughts thinking over the show. Quatre sat in the front this time, since Trowa had glared at me when I tried to get in. The blonde boy sat with his head leaning against the window, staring at the road outside as the car slipped down the empty streets. It was 4 A.M. in the morning, and it just seemed weird to come out of a busy place such as 'Underworld' and out onto the blank and quiet streets. Trowa was quiet, as usual. Though there was something about him that seemed different. From the back, where I think he thought I wasn't watching I could see his eyes shifting onto Quatre once in a while, a frown on his face, before returning to the road. There was something up but I couldn't work it out. My mind was in such a jumble, I don't even think I could even tie my shoe laces.

OK, so I'm 110 straight and I know I am. So why am I so wildly attracted to the boy dancing in the bar? Maybe I wasn't attracted. Perhaps, I thought of him as something I wanted to be? A role model? Yes. Yes, that must be it! Then why is there a little voice in the back of my head saying 'No that wasn't it'? My mind has been going around and around in circles, I'm confused to no end. What am I feeling? Am I attracted to him? Am I gay? No Heero...No you're not gay, this is stupid. What would people think of the Great Heero Yuy, most popular guy in the school, Relena's ex-boyfriend being gay? It would be the end to my reputation. Everything would be ruined. So that's the reason I am not gay, that's the reason why I AM in love with Relena Peacecraft. There is no doubt about that. Relena is perfect, she is the King to be's daughter, and she is seen as a figure of peace and innocence. Who wouldn't be in love with that?

Relena has perfect blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a models figure. She looks like a girl who has walked out of any guy's wet dream...But Shingimi...He has mysterious violet eyes...Ones you want to look into and work out the person behind them. He also has that meter long braid, which any person would like to run their hands through. My hands caressed the hat in my lap thinking back. He also had a great body. I can't believe I'm thinking about him like that...Maybe its just too late in the night and my minds so fucked up I'm starting to think I'm gay. OK, so Shingimi is the only guy I've actually...Well...Thought was attractive...I don't find Zech's attractive. NO WAY. I don't fancy Trowa or WuFei or Quatre for that fact.

The car came to a slow stop outside the Maxwell church and my thoughts were thrown back to my current situation with Relena. In less than 2 weeks nearly all my life has fallen apart. I don't fancy Duo that's for sure. I can't even see what his face looks like! Its half covered by the biggest fucking glasses in the world and a manky old hat. I do hate that hat. Maybe I could trend him up a bit...Buy him a new hat...And clothes. Then maybe I'd find him attractive. What am I thinking urgh! I threw the car door open in frustration earning a glare from Trowa and a startled yelp from Quatre.

"Sorry..." I murmured lowly. "Thanks Tro."

"Cya around Heero," he replied quietly, his eyes were on the church looking it up and down. Again there was his frown. Why is he frowning at the church? Deciding to muse over the fact later, I locked the information away in the back of my mind.

"Hai..." I muttered and shut the car door, more gently than I'd opened it. I walked slowly up to the church and pulled on the large door to open. I slipped inside, the only light coming from a few candles burning on the alter at the front of the church. I made my way through the kitchen and out into the garden and over to the bunkhouse. So what exactly did I think of the show...Shingimi sure can sing. Him and his 'Diamond Demons' can produce a brilliant show, sexy and creative. The atmosphere in the club was amazing. I have to admit, it was better than all the other clubs Relena had taken me to. After Shingimi had made his appearance we'd stayed for another couple of drinks watching as different acts came and went off the stage, none of them producing quiet a show like Shingimi. Within Shingimi's show it felt like you were watching a play. Everything was perfectly staged. I couldn't think of the amount of practice the dancers had put into producing the show, or the amount of hours Shingimi and the girl had spent singing the songs over and over to get them perfect. The other singers on later in the night were good, they danced and sung, but their voices lacked the sexy tone of Shingimi's.

The time when he danced in front of me I didn't know what came over me. It took all my strength to keep my cool. Shingimi's gaze was intense and I could feel myself turning into goo in front of him. URGH!!! I hate this.

I opened the bunkhouse door and entered quietly so I wouldn't wake any of the kids. I didn't like to think over what would happen if any of them woke up. Slipping down the corridor I passed Duo's room on the way, the door was slightly open and he was lying in his bed, on his side facing away from me. He had his ugly hat on...Strange...Why would he want to sleep in it for? Perhaps he's formed a bond with his stupid ugly hat. I wonder what Duo would look like without his hat or glasses on...Perhaps I could ask him another time to take them off...He shifted in his bed and turned on his side to face me. I backed away into the shadows of the corridor before hastily continuing to my room. Once there I shut the door and collapsed onto my bed. I fell instantly asleep, throwing all my worries from my mind for the moment, except for the memory of the dancing Shingimi in my mind.

**TBC...**

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	15. The Day of Rest

**Chapter 15**

**The Day of Rest**

**(Heero POV)**

The sound of feet thumping along the wooden floor outside my bedroom and the cries of laughter woke me up the next morning. Complete with a banging headache, I threw the covers from my body, the cold morning air attacking my skin. I shivered a little as I rose and stretched to pop my back. Glancing down at my watch I found it was 10pm. God I've over slept and missed morning service. I yawned as I went to open my bedroom door to see what the fuss was all about outside. Sliding it open I was greeted by many of the orphan children running up and down the corridors, some naked and others covered in towels. Some of them were wet while others were dry. God why don't they keep the racket down. Don't they know some people were trying to sleep? One child, with blonde hair and grey eyes, stopped and grinned up at me. The name of the kid completely flew out of my head - that's a first. I have an apt for remembering peoples names. Seems today I'm not in best shape, I have got a bit of a hangover after all.

"'Eero you gonna join us in the showers?!" He called. "It's Sunday!"

Suddenly remembering that today was, indeed Sunday and that meant it was time for all the children to have a shower. Finally they'll smell nice for a few days. Finally Duo will smell nice. The small blonde bobbed up and down on the spot waiting for an answer. Well I suppose I could since it was part of my project to find out what living at the church was like. I nodded once and the boy's grin got even larger if possible.

"Race you there 'eero!" He yelled, before disappearing off down the corridor after a few of his male friends. Returning to my room I grabbed my towel, shampoo and soap, which yesterday I was questioning myself why I even brought along with me. Slinging my towel over my shoulder, my eyes spied the black hat Shingimi had chucked to me last night. I'd dreamt of him last night…I cringed what is wrong with me! It's this damned place! This whole damn week! My whole life is fucked because of one of my mistakes! I don't think I've ever made a mistake like this before. Heero get a grip of yourself, remember, your Heero Yuy, your Sanc high schools male football team leader, your Relena Peacecrafts boyfriend…Ex boyfriend…Who lost her from sleeping with her brother…I'm straight…. I love Relena…Yet I fantasise about Shingimi…A male club dancer…Who am I again?

Shingimi's violet eyes appeared in my memory, they twinkled and shone like the stars. Perhaps it was just his beautiful eyes that caught my attention…Did I just beautiful? Oh man, perhaps a hot shower will wash the thoughts outta my head and down the drain. Hopefully. I took off down the corridor passing Duo's room on the way, his bed was empty, and the black and white covers sprawled all over the bed. I hate untidy people. One thing I make sure I do in the morning is make my bed. I continued my way to the shower room hoping there wouldn't be loads of screaming children in there. Outside Father Maxwell stood in front of a long line of children all half naked with towels wrapped round them. Father Maxwell caught my eye and smiled.

"Heero just in time!" He called as I moved in closer, "Duo's just finishing up with a few kids you can supervise the next lot."

Supervise. I grimaced. How the hell was I supposed to supervise all them screaming kids. HEY! Yuy that's the wrong attitude! You can do this, for heavens sake they're CHILDREN. Mission Accepted Father.

Father Maxwell took a glance into the shower room before a few, half naked and wet kids ran out and down towards the bunkhouse, all screaming and half of them waving their towels round their heads. Damn it maybe I can't do this.

"Next 10 please!" Father Maxwell called as the children at the front of the queue ran into the shower room. I slowly followed them hating the thought of sharing a shower with all them. Just as I walked in Duo was bending forward wrapping a long towel round…His hair? Why is he wrapping a towel round his hair, his hair isn't not long enough to do that. He has short hair. Then it dawned on me. I haven't actually seen Duo's hair before. He suddenly noticed me and his eyes widened.

"Heero, wh, wha…!" He gobbled as his hand clamped down on the black towel on his head as his other searched for his large glasses on the bench. Crystal droplets of water dripped from his forehead and down his face. My eyes travelled down his half naked body. Heero Yuy are you eyeing up Duo Maxwell? Jesus Christ you are fucked up. "I mean..." He carried on finally finding the words the wanted to speak. "What are you doing here?"

"It's Sunday Baka." I stated. Does he think I'm nuts, there is no way I was going to give up a free shower. "It's shower day."

His face went bright red as he mumbled 'Oh yes of course' under his breath while tightening up the towel around his slender, sexy waist. Oh my god. Please someone kill me now. Oh no, please go down, please go down! Think of something disgusting, think of something disgusting!

"Hey Duo!" One of the kids suddenly called. "Can you help me with my hair?!"

"Sure Dudley." I heard the reply as I twirled round in a hurry closing my eyes, trying to think of anything except...What I was just thinking about. Oh Jesus Christ what is happening to me. Right something disgusting...WuFei in a dress, WuFei in a dress! I sighed silently as I felt myself cool down between my legs. I waited for a few seconds before getting myself ready to join the shower with the kids who had suddenly decided to have a bubble war. I dropped my stuff on a nearby bench and started to strip off my clothes. I wonder if Shinigimi is having a shower now? Wait a minute…This is starting to go to far. Why am I thinking about this boy all the time? Come on now Heero. I mentally slapped myself. Taking off my boxers I carefully folded them and placed them on the bench. Strolling over to the nearest shower cubical were there were already 3 kids I dipped my head under the shower head, sighing as the nice hot water washed over my skin. I love having a shower in the morning; however normally there aren't any screaming children.

"I'm singing in the rain!" I could hear a screech of a child. God even Relena can sing better than that… "Just singing in the rain!"

"What a glorious feeling I'm happy again" Another joined in.

"I'm laughing at the clouds, so dark above!" My eyes snapped open as I heard a small voice come from the direction of Duo.

"Hey Heero!"

My eyes snapped open to see one of the kids in front of me, in his hand was a ball of bubbles. He grinned. "Do you remember what day it is Heero?"

I frowned, it's a Sunday, and everyone knows that. "Sunday. Will."

Will shook his head disapprovingly, his brown locks falling over his eyes as he bowed his head. "Forgotten already Heero? It's Baseball day!" Suddenly a ball of bubbles came smashing into my face. Just what I needed with this banging headache!

"Will!" I could hear Duo yelling. "You know your not supposed to do that!" I wiped the bubbles from my eyes seeing Duo frowning at the small boy who just grinned and carried on washing himself. I rolled my eyes and slunk off into my own world, thanking God that I brought my own soap. Theirs was running out…Very quickly. It smelt like it had been thrown down a drain and left there for a couple of days. How can they even shower like this? Having a shower was a time where I would get away from everything else and just think. But there was no way I'd be able to do this here, for Gods sake I can't even hear myself think. But then again…I don't think any of these kids have even experienced anything like that to appreciate it.

There was a yell from Father Maxwell for the boys to dry themselves up, as the next load was getting ready to enter. This procedure must take ages to do; there are over 150 kids living at the orphanage. Grabbing my towel I wrapped it around myself before making a quick exit, not wanting to be caught in a stampede of naked children. Reaching my room I slowly shut the door behind myself, my eyes flicking over the black hat. Stop thinking about him Yuy, your just gonna get yourself into a mess. Rubbing myself off I grabbed my tracksuit bottoms and a tank top. After all…It is Sunday.

xXx

**(Duo POV)**

Oh. MY. GOD. I've just seen Heero Yuy naked…. Heero Yuy NAKED! And in my shower! Well not my shower…. But that's usually the spray head I stand under…Hehe…I saw his. Duo Maxwell calm down, your just going to get yourself in a mess and you don't want that right now. Heero could be suspicious after all you did dance in front of him last night. I can't believe I did that, but I couldn't help it. I was Shinigimi last night. I can't stop myself when I turn into him. Shingimi's the person who likes to live on the edge and play with danger. Yet Heero looked so…Sexy last night, I bet I looked like a wreck after all I was running late and made the show start late. Oh dear I hope Heero doesn't suspect, that would be it, my life would be over. He would tell everyone and Father Maxwell would hate me. However if he did suspect, I would have thought he would have come forward by now. Maybe he's lying low and gathering evidence to bring me down. Nevertheless there's still the fact of what were Heero, Trowa and Quatre doing in my club. It couldn't have been Quatre's idea, he looked too nervous to even keep himself from quaking in his seat. Maybe Heero's been there before and I haven't seen him. No that can't be right, maybe Trowa?

I pulled my towel off my head as I safely closed my bedroom door shut. My long hazelnut locks freely falling and cocooning around my body. I sighed feeling my clean hair swish against my back. The way it should always be. However a guy with hair as long as mine wouldn't be able to attend my Oh so special school…Yeah right. If it weren't for my wish to see Heero every day I won't go. But then I would be stuck unable to get a job, like anywhere would be interested in hiring an orphan around here anyway. People are too stuck up to realise that your life is hard enough not knowing who or where your family are. Folding my black towel over the door of my wardrobe to dry I then flopped back on my bed, feeling the dampness of my hair rub into my back. I wonder what Heero would think of my hair. I twirled the end of my hairs around my fingers and closed my eyes. Heero looked like he was enjoying himself last night. Well I hope it was enjoyment, or maybe it was horror. I can't remember I was so pumped up with the crowd and them being there. Maybe he was horrified to be there, he did have me dance in front of him and I'm a guy. Maybe he would have liked it better if Hilde danced in front of him. Oh God…I hope not. Of course he would have Duo. He's straight. I pulled on my hair, my scalp stinging slightly. I should just give up on him. Zechs must have been telling a lie, there is no way Heero would have slept with him. He's just trying to wind me up.

"And I'd give up forever to touch you." I sung quietly the words of the new song I had just finished writing a couple of days ago. Quatre was still writing the music to it. He writes most of the music for my songs. "Cause I know that you feel me somehow, you're the closest to heaven that I'll ever…' I stopped as there was a sudden knock and my bedroom door flew open. My eyes widened as I saw Heero begin to walk in, however I was saved by Father Maxwell who shouted something about olds clothes . I quickly dove under my bed covers to hide.

"Duo?" His voice, his wonderful deep voice. "Duo?" Answer fool, he thinks you're ignoring him!

"Ermm…Yeah?" My voice was trembling with fear. Oh god don't tell me to come out from under the cover.

"What are you doing? I can hardly hear you."

"I'm Ermm…." Oh god think of an excuse, think of an excuse! "Reading?" Great going Maxwell, I thought you were lying low today. Not trying to make him any more suspicious than he already may be.

"Under the covers, in daylight?" I grimaced. I must sound so weird.

"Oh…yeah!" I replied trying to find a way out of this mess. "You know, Father Maxwell doesn't Ermm…Approve of me reading these types of books so I hide from him when I read them?"

"Hn. Dirty Maxwell. Real Dirty." I could hear his reply. Oh god…I didn't mean that! I could feel my cheeks burning up! I'm not into porn! SHIT! Sorry Lord.

"Well tell me when your…Ermm…You know finished." With that I heard him basically run to the door and slam it shut. Oh my god. He thinks I'm a pervert. How can I face him after this? I mentally slapped myself. Don't you ever think Duo? Placing my hands together I prayed, Jesus Christ please help me! He's blatantly going to tell all his friends and now I will have a new name at school. Duo the Pervert.

Kicking my bed covers off in frustration I went and locked my bedroom door. There. No more disturbances. Chucking on some old clothes, I pulled out my hair drier to get myself ready…After all it is Sunday, which should in fact be the day of rest. But then again I don't think I've ever had a 'days rest'.

"Hey!" There was a harsh whisper, making me jump. "Maxwell!" There was a tap on the window. My head snapped around to see who it could be. Hilde's face was pressed against the glass, her blue eyes glittering with mischief. Oh god what does she want? "Come on. I wanna talk to ya!" Rolling my eyes I sauntered to the window and quietly slid it open.

"What are you doing here? You know if Heero…"

"So that was Heero last night and the guy who was just in your room huh?" She grinned cheekily showing her white pearly teeth. "Man Duo you've picked yourself a looker there."

"Shhhh!" I widened my eyes to warn her she wasn't supposed to be here and ANYONE could be over hearing the conversation we were having. "Yeah it's a shame he's straight Hilds!" I hushed "And were you spying on me?!"

She snorted "Ermmm no, but he wishes Duo!" she giggled. I frowned in confusion.

"Oh come on, he couldn't take his eyes off you!"

"That was probably because he was scared shitless that I was going to, you know try it on with him or something." I sighed. Hild shook her head, with a small smile on her face. One problem with Hilde is that she is way too optimistic. My lifetime has always told me to expect the worst from everyone, even your closest friends.

"You know Duo sometimes you gotta have a little faith in yourself. You looked gorgeous last night…"

"I was a mess last night!" A right mess, I was late spent 2 seconds in make-up and 5 seconds getting changed!

"Dream on buddy." Her eyes suddenly flickered left and right as the sound of screaming children was getting louder.

"Looks like the kids have been let out" I said. My heart started to beat fast, hoping none of the kids were going to walk around the corner. I wouldn't hear the end of it. Duo's got a girlfriend it would be. "You should make a move before you're seen."

"Hey I still wanna talk about this." She smiled. "Come over sometime and we can talk about Heero."

"Shhhh!" I hushed widening my eyes as a warning, saying the H word was forbidden when people could be overhearing.

She rolled her eyes at me, "Tomorrow yeah?"

"Sure." With that she hurriedly ran towards the church fence and jumped over it. She turned and gave me a cheeky grin before disappearing off down the street. Closing the window I sighed. Once Hilde starts she never shuts up. At this rate my hair isn't going to dry in time ready for the games. Day of rest my arse.

By the time I'd finished everyone was outside and it looks like Father Maxwell had sorted out some old clothes for Heero. I bit my lip to stop my laughter bubbling up. He was dressed in red floppy shorts that looked way to big for him and a yellow tank top. Hey, I guess he will get a taste of what its like to be me for a day. The kids had already formed their teams, all dressed in shabby old clothes.

"Your on our team Duo!" Katie yelled excitedly. "Sister Helen wanted Heero on her team."

I glanced over to Sister Helen who was grinning brightly, however there was a spark of competition in her eyes. HA she thinks she's going to win just because she has Heero on her team. "That's fine."

"Right team leaders!" Father Maxwell called Sister Helen and myself to the middle of the 'mock' baseball pitch. "Heads or Tails?"

"HEADS!" Sister Helen called happily. I shrugged my shoulders, it didn't matter what I had.

"Looks like its head guys." Father Maxwell stated.

"We'll field first," Sister Helen, said in satisfaction that she'd won before turning to me with a smirk. "Bring it on Duo."

"Oh I will. In fact I'll kick your…" Father Maxwell raised his eyebrows as he pocketed the coin. "Bum…Like I did last year…And the year before."

"Alright Maxwell, we'll see, after all we do have Heero on our team."

"Heero, Smeero."

**TBC...**

REVIEWWW!!!


	16. Baseball

**Chapter 16**

**Baseball **

**(Heero POV)**

Everyone on the two teams ran to their places while I pulled up my extra large shorts. I'd tied a knot at the back so they wouldn't fall down but I could still feel them slipping. I look and feel like a clown. I hate this. Though I wouldn't dream using my nice new clothes to play baseball – they have to last me at least a month. The rest of the kids who didn't want to join in clapped as I ran to my place on the field. Deciding to settle in the shade I watched as Duo reached for a bat. He shifted the hat on his head slightly making it more secure. Why is he still wearing that thing it's boiling hot out here! I'm just glad I'm fielding in the shade. Sister Helen was currently wearing a knee length black skirt and an old and worn white Nike tank top. The look on her face looked manic…I'm just glad I'm not Duo. She caressed the ball in her hand, eyeing Duo up and down as if trying to read how he was going to hit the ball.

That was when it happened. She threw the ball at full pelt towards Duo who raised his bat and swung as hard as he could. My eyes widened as the ball went flying up into the air and somewhere over to the left side of the field. He was already at the second post by the time the ball had landed…The Bastard. I watched as the little kids ran towards it all at once. By the time they'd retrieved the ball and threw it to Sister Helen, Duo was back by the batters waiting line and had a cool drink in his hand.

The look on Sister Helens face was scary to say the least. She's such a competitive witch. Next up it was Father Maxwell who hit the ball and got to the second post. To be fair he did well for an old man of his age. By the time of the 15th batter we had 3 out however they had 10 runs, 4 of them being home runs. The only way we could win would be to get the next few out. However it is harder than it sounds. Whenever the ball was hit all the kids would run towards it leaving no one to feed it to Sister Helen. One of the children had actually picked the ball up and ran across the field to give it to her. I mentally slapped myself. That's what you get when you play baseball with Children under the age of 12.

The next kid to come to the mount was Adam the army kid from the other night. He had mud all over his face like war paint and looked like he was ready to take us all on. He boy was only 7 years old and looked like a maniac. He held the large bat in his hands and gave Duo a knowing nod. That's when I knew I had to get ready he was going to swing for it like Duo had. Sister Helen juggled the ball in her hands before throwing it towards the little boy who smacked it in one clean shot. I watched as it went up into the air and sailed my way. This was it, this was by chance to prove myself and get someone out. I held my hands out and I ran in the direct of the ball. I could see it as it descended; however what I didn't see was the mass of children running my way. The next thing I knew I'd been knocked to the floor by a stampede of kids. I watched in horror as the ball fell to the floor with a loud thump right in front of my face. I felt my teeth girt together in anger – stupid kids! We were loosing! And I never loose! My hand reached out towards the ball, however one of the kids got there first and grabbed it before I had my chance. I watched in horror and he ran up to Sister Helen with the ball in his hand as the two children from post 3 ran to safety and Jason gained a home run. For FUCKS SAKE!

I could hear laughter in the distance. My eyes locked onto Duo Maxwell as he collapsed onto the grass in a fit of laughter. Damn him and this damn game. How could I loose to a bunch of kids and Duo Maxwell?!?! The Injustice of it all…God I'm starting to sound like WuFei. I have to formulate a plan. One that will make damn sure we'll win this game. I could see that Sister Helen was getting a bit pissed over it. She was trying so hard just to keep her kind smile on her face. The corners of her mouth were quivering. The enemy had 10 batters left meaning we still had a small chance to get more people out. How I was wrong. It ended up with us getting 3 more batters out just because they'd only hit the ball 2 yards away from their feet and had been stumped out straight away. Duo congratulated his team in delight while Sister Helen marched over to me.

"Heero can you bat well?" She asked while trying to tuck in her tank top into the waistband of her skirt

"Well yeah." I answered – under statement of the century- course I could.

"I'm going to place you in the middle of the batters line putting Kate, Harry and Jason in front of you. They can hit the ball well however it will only get them to the second possibly the third stump." I nodded in agreement knowing that if I was placed after them and hit a home run we would gain more points.

"Roger that." I answered. She gave me a warm smile before we both jogged off to the batters line. She placed herself second while a little girl named Jess was placed first. Duo juggled the ball in his hands as he narrowed his eyesight onto the little girl. She smiled sweetly back and waited for Duo to throw the ball. A second later the ball was hit half way across the field into some bushes not far off by Father Maxwell. She squealed with delight and ran her fastest gaining her a place at the second post by the time the ball had come back to Duo.

Next up was Sister Helen. She grabbed the bat from the floor and held it tightly with her two hands. She then turned to Duo and gave him the wickedest grin ever. He just grinned back and then threw the ball his hardest while twisting his wrist as he did so the ball flew at her at an awkward angle. The Nun brought the bat back and swung at it in one swift movement. The ball sailed over everyone's heads as Duo called out for Adam to run for the ball, which was coming his way. In the meanwhile the crowds of children and other Nuns were going wild as Sister Helen reached the second post.

"Come on Sister you can do it!" The kids chanted in the line of batters. They were all jumping up and down in excitement. However my eyes spied the ball as it came sailing over towards Duo just as Sister Helen reached the 3rd Post, one more to go and she would have a Home run. He caught it and dived off towards the 4th post. The two of them ran as fast as they could with their eyes trained on the post.

It all seemed to go in slow motion as Sister Helen dived out to reach the sandbag and Duo dived to plunk the ball on it. And guess what…We got it. We gained a home run as Sister Helens hand landed on the sandbag with Duo's placed on top. A loud roar escaped the crowd as the line of children started to dance with joy. A second later I had my hands pulled on as a dozen children twirled me round in celebration that Sister Helen had made it. Out the corner of my eye I watched as the two of them stood. Duo gave Sister Helen a warm smile and they both shook hands. You know what I have never seen an old woman such as Sister Helen run that fast in my whole life.

The game seemed to get even better after Sister Helens home run - even though it took a long time for the Kids to get round the pitch. By the time it was my go, we were in the exact position Sister Helen said we would be in. We had Kate on Post 1, Jason and Harry on Post 2 since Kate hit was very poor and 2 other children on post 3. If I hit the ball hard enough so it covered a large distance I could gain the team 6 points. If we gained these 6 points we would only need 5 more points out of 10 batters to win. It was all riding on me. Mission Accepted.

I pulled the bat from the floor feeling the rough wood in my hands. Bringing the bat up in a swinging position I laid my eyes on Duo Maxwell whose glare was concentrating hard on me. He was getting ready for the throw. I could see the determination glowing in his eyes. He was going to get me out weather I liked it or not. Well I will give him a run for his money. However I will get us these 6 points! The crowd was growing wild in anticipation waiting for Duo to throw the ball. A second later it was thrown. It was way faster than any other I'd experienced before and I missed the first shot. I've got to get these points. The ball was thrown back to Duo. I could heard the chants of the children waiting to bat 'Come on Heero you can do it'. They knew what was at stake here as much as I did. I brought the bat up again ready to swing my hardest. Duo juggled the ball in his hands as if considering what type of throw he should do next. A few seconds later the ball flew past my head. SHIT MOTHER OF GOD!

The children sigh in disappointment. I had to hit this next ball otherwise we had it. Come on Heero. I gripped tighter this time waiting for the ball to come flying towards me. A second later it did, and I don't think I have ever hit something so hard in my whole life. I don't think I actually realised I'd hit the ball until I felt a small push on my back from the other kids indicating for me to run. The ball had flew off somewhere down the other end of the pitch. I could see the children still running to get it. I on the other hand have just reached the second post and have caught up with Kate. I jogged beside her just to take the piss as Duo franticly called for his team to hurry. By the time I'd jogged to the 4 post and into safe Adam had just found the ball. We had to wait another minute for it to reach Duo who had the look of anger on his face.

After that everyone seemed to be in good spirits. We were on our 8th batter named Sara when we scored our 22nd Point. We'd won. I'd kicked Maxwell's ASS! The kids started to go crazy as they danced and sung. The next thing I knew Sister Helen had swung me round in a circle and pulled me into the biggest bear hug ever.

"Well done Heero we couldn't have done it without your help!" She cried, "I've finally beaten Duo Maxwell Waaahooo!" She jumped up and down on the spot like a small child while the Kids started to chant my name "Heero, Heero, Heero!"

I felt my pride rise. I've won. We've won! I felt a tap on my back and turned round to see Father Maxwell and Duo standing behind me.

"Well Done Heero." Father Maxwell smiled. "That was some wonderful batting and team work." He held out his hand, which I greatly took.

"Thank you." I watched as Duo smiled at Sister Helen.

"The better Team won I suppose" He spoke "Well Done." Sister Helen smiled and grabbed Duo into a big bear hug almost straggling the poor guy.

"So what have we won Father Maxwell?" One of the kids suddenly asked. Father Maxwell signalled for one of the Nuns to come over with a large bag of goodies. They all jumped up and down on the spot while I curiously tried to peek into the bag to see what was inside.

"Now Children, I would just like to say a few words!" He called over the noise as all the children instantly shut their traps. "First of all I would like to say thank you for all those who took part and also I would like us to say a prayer to our savour – our 'Mystery Donator'. Without our 'Mystery Donator' we wouldn't be able to do our baseball match each month." I saw Duo smile slightly as we all placed our hands together.

"Dear Lord, would you please bless our Mystery Donator and all others. Without the money we wouldn't be here today. Amen."

"AMEN!" The Kids cried in sync.

"Right then first of all I would like to congratulate the Man of the Match." There was a loud cough which came from Sister Helen. "Or woman," Father Maxwell corrected himself. "From the judges panel." He nodded over to a group of Nuns who were sat watching. "They have picked Heero Yuy"

I felt my pride grow. I was man of the match. Go Me! Father Maxwell dug into the bag of goodies and pulled out a voucher. He passed it to me with a smile. A Three-Course Dinner for 2 at Stevens. Jesus that place is very expensive. This Voucher must have cost over £150.

"It was a donation." Father Maxwell explained with a shrug. "Hope you like it."

"It's great thanks." I answered staring at the Voucher in amazement. I never expected anything like this.

"As for the Winning team!" Father Maxwell called as the Sister Helen's team gave out a small cheer. "You have all won…" Father Maxwell dug into his bag of mysteries. "A 500g bar of Chocolate!" The Children's mouths dropped as Father Maxwell pulled out large bars of chocolate. Even though it was the shittest, cheapest brand of chocolate from the Supermarket the looks on their faces were like that had died on gone to heaven. The other children looked like they'd gone into a sulk. Father Maxwell happily handed out the chocolate to the winning team and a bar to me and Sister Helen whose eyes lit up as she gained hold of her chocolate bar.

"As for the loosing Team and audience." Father Maxwell pulled out a smaller snack sized bar "You have theses." He handed each chocolate bar out to the children who happily opened them straight away and gobbled them down. Lastly he gave one to Duo who smiled greatly at his prize. Even though he didn't have the large bar of chocolate he looked content at what he had gained. I watched as he ripped the packaging off and took his first bite as if the thing he had in his hand was the most precious thing on earth. But then again they probably don't get to eat chocolate that often or at all.

"Don't eat all your chocolate otherwise you wont eat your Dinner!" Sister Helen called after the kids as they ran off to the bunkhouse with their winnings. The sun had started to descend and light colours of red and orange played across our faces. Sister Helen heaved out a huge groan "Time to get Dinner started, lets go girls." The other Nuns followed Sister Helen to the Kitchens leaving Myself, Duo and Father Maxwell to clean up the mess of chocolate wrappers on the floor.

"They're a messy lot aren't they." Father Maxwell tutted under his breath as we all helped shove the wrappers into Father Maxwell's empty bag of mysteries. "Thank you boys, you were both a real help today."

"Just trying my best," Duo answered placing the last one in the bag. "Though I will win next time." Father Maxwell laughed and patted Duo on the back.

"I'm sure you will son, a person with as much determination as you will get far in life." He smiled. "Now I must be off got some paper work to take care of." With that he took off towards the church leaving Duo and myself in the gardens. We stood in silence for a couple if minutes, Duo seemed to be fiddling with the top of his trousers.

"Congratulations Heero…" He suddenly spoke. "No ones ever hit the ball that hard before."

"Hn." I inwardly smiled at my success, I am the best of course.

"Yeah…Well…I'll Cya later…Then…" He spoke as he turned to leave towards the bunkhouse.

"Wait!" I called not knowing why and not knowing what to say next. Great going Yuy you've just made yourself look like a complete twat. "Why…Why don't you stay with me for a while…We could talk?" Damn this is hard.

"Yeah…Sure if you want" I heard his reply. "Could go to my tree house."

"You've got a tree house?" I asked, how old is he again? 18. I had a tree house when I was 9.

"Yeah" He stepped away motioning for me to follow. We headed off towards the wooded area of the Church Grounds. You know I never knew the grounds was this big or this beautiful. It seemed like we had set foot in a completely different area, not part of the South of the Sanc. Wild flowers grew all around us as Duo continued to lead me deeper into the forest.

Finally we reached a large tree with a small tree house resting on a few of the large branches. Duo smiled successfully up at the small house. "I built that when I first came here." He explained. "It's a good few years old now though, so I'd watch yourself." Are you serious?

I watched as he jumped up to grab one of the branches and pulled himself up. Once stable he turned and held out a hand for me.

"I can get up myself." I answered concerned as to why he led me here to an old rickety tree house he built himself. I wouldn't even trust a chair that he'd built. He nodded in understandment, however a disappointed look crossed his face. Ignoring it I pulled myself up and followed him across the tree branch to the front door of the tree house. Inside were two old chairs a rug and some covers. Looks like he liked to sleep up here too. He plonked himself down on one of the chairs while I careful sat on the other.

"So this is it." He spoke. "I think I did pretty well for a 14 year old!"

"You came to the church when you were 14?" I saw him recoil at my words. I assumed he was much younger when he first came to the church, or maybe he wanted me to think that. What the hell was he doing before he came here? 14 years is a long time and I need to be filled in with the details of how he got here in the first place. Father Maxwell's words swirled round in my mind. It's my mission to find out what happened to Duo Maxwell and to find out exactly who he is.

"Duo…" I started; I could see him start to panic. The look in his violet…. eyes.

"We shouldn't have come here…" He started as he tried to get up from his chair, but just earning a groan from the old tree house. "I should never have brought you here. We won't hear the Dinner bell when it goes, Sister Helen will be worried where we are."

"Duo?"

"We will miss Dinner and that means food will be wasted…"

"Duo…"

"And then I will feel so guilty because they would have spent all that money they cant afford on us and we would have wasted it…."

"Duo will you just please shut up!" I cried causing him to fall backwards in surprise and trip over his seat. He landed with a loud thump on the wooden floor causing the 'house' to groan louder than before. I felt a smile break my lips and before I knew it laughter bubbled out of my mouth for the second time since I've been here. That's usually my years worth.

**(Duo POV)**

Oh Jesus Christ my head. Bringing my hand up to rub the sore spot my mind wonder what the fuck had just happened – excuse my language father. I can still see stars! Blinking a couple of times I felt a hand rest on my shoulder. Looking up I saw Heero bending over to held me get to my feet.

"Duo no Baka," He laughed. You know a smile looks gorgeous on his face and the sound of laughter from his lips is beautiful. His blue eyes twinkled in the fading light…You know what, I think I've just fallen in love with him all over again.

"Let me help you up." He spoke his nasal voice drifting to my ears. I placed my hand in his and it sent a spark through my body. He pulled me up so we were both level staring into each other's eyes. His body was so close I could feel the heat of his seeping into mine.

"You know Duo." He spoke his hand reaching up and sweeping a dangling piece of my brown hair behind my ear. My breath hitched as he touched it, however I couldn't take my eyes off him. He bent down to pick up my missing glasses that I didn't even know had fallen off. He still had a small smile on his lips. "You shouldn't wear such fucking ugly glasses…" I laughed slightly at his comment as he slowly placed them back on my face. He frowned when suddenly he reached forward and grabbed them – chucking them out the window of the tree house

"Hey!" I yelled watching them hit the ground outside. "What'd you do that for!" What fuck am I supposed to wear now? I only have one pair. For Fucks Sake – Sorry Father.

"Much better now." He answered me. "Those glasses belong in a rubbish tip."

"I need them!"

"Why?"

"Ermmmm….." Shit….

"You can see fine without can't you?"

"Well…I can…A little…" Shit I can't lie.

"Well what's the problem then?" I couldn't find a suitable answer. I don't even need glasses, I just use to them cover up my face so no one can see me. Heero rolled his eyes and motioned towards the exit of the tree house.

"We'd better get back." He said, "I think I heard the dinner bell." I watched as he exited the tree house before I followed closely behind. Jumping down from one of the tree branches I stopped behind Heero who was staring off into the direction of the forest, which I never go. I felt a shiver run up and down my spine as I bent down to pick up my broken glassed from the floor. I knew what he'd just spied when he'd jumped down from the tree house.

"What's..." He started but he didn't have time to finish as I marched my way past him. I was about half way back to the Church by the time he'd caught up with me. None of us said a word all the way back. My heart was racing, I hadn't been out to the tree house in 3 years. My infatuation to impress Heero has just cost me a whole nights sleep. Why did I take him to the tree house?

**TBC...**

Mwhahaha lol. I'm back with a new mysterious chapter. If any of you haven't read my profile, I have stated that I am trying to finish this fic and I will do...all in good time. I hope this chappy was good enough for you for the time being! **REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!** Loves xxxxxxx **P.S If you have already read this fic before and have come straight to this chapter you may want to skim over the other ones as i have made some changes!** x


	17. An Unexpected Twist

**Chapter 17**

**An Unexpected Twist**

**(Quatre POV)**

I could feel myself shaking in my boots. It's Monday and I haven't seen or heard from Duo since Saturday night. I'm pretty sure Trowa or Heero didn't recognized him, if they did I think I would have heard some rumours going around the school by now. It's Monday afternoon and I have deliberately been avoiding Duo. I came to school late much to Relena's disappointment of wanting to share a ride. Like I would have wanted to share a ride with her anyway! However, now it's time for Science class which Duo and I have together. There is no way I can get outta this one. My heart is racing so fast, It was all my fault they got in. We may have missed the show if the bouncer didn't recognize me. I'm so sorry Duo.

Stuffing my hands into my pockets I entered the classroom with my head bowed low in shame. I noticed Duo sat on his own by the window the seat next to him – my seat and the other seats around were empty. He seemed to be in a daze, his eyes staring out of the nearby window. I frowned as I noticed the thick mass of cello-tape wrapped round the arm of his glasses. Oh God I hope Heero didn't hit him! I moved slowly towards him giving him time to notice I was there and tell me to get lost. But he never did and it wasn't till I was about a three foot away from him that his emotional energy hit me. I suddenly felt a huge wave of terror, upset and anger wash over me. The emotion was so intense it made me grab for my chest as I felt my heart fight hard to beat. Something was very wrong with him, and I knew it was all my fault. Maybe Heero realized who he was! I tried my best Duo… really, but they just didn't want to leave.

"Duo..."

"Don't worry about it Q, he doesn't know." He whispered quietly so only I could hear. His gaze was still on something outside. I frowned. If Heero didn't know then why is he feeling the way he is. The emotional wave just got stronger as I took my seat next to him.

"Duo about Saturday..." I started but got cut off as he turned to me. He had large bags under his eyes, he looked like he hadn't slept for a week. I gasped at the sight. "Duo..."

"Don't worry about me Q, everything is fine." He stated but I wasn't convinced. "Saturday was quite fun to say the least."

"But they could have found out." I whispered harshly. "I could have ruined everything for you! Don't you hate me?"

"No I could never hate you Q." He answered. "If that had happened, at least Heero could have seen the real me."

I huffed. "That's not the point Duo." He smiled sadly before turning his gaze back to the window. I bit my lip trying to find something to say while trying hard to fend off the dark, strong emotions blazing off him.

"Duo what's wrong?" I asked. "I'm worried about you. Is there anything I can do to help you feel better?"

"Nothing, unless you can rewind the clock." He murmured back before the teacher spoke up and told us all to be quiet. Duo continued to go off into his own little world after that, while I went into mine. My mind seemed to wonder onto the boy next to me and what might be wrong with him. He might have had another nightmare again. That always gets him into a bad mood. Yet what could he have been dreaming of? His past on the streets or what could have happened if he was found out? I sighed Duo is so full of mysteries there is no way this century I would find out what's wrong with him. Tuning out my thoughts I tried to pay my attention to the teacher who was giving a boring lecture on planets, but you know me, always the worrier...

You know, I don't think I've ever felt so bad about something I've done before. I could have wrecked Duo's life. Just the thought of it makes me feel sick. However, I think if Trowa knew he would have said something to me by now. It's surprising how different Trowa is to how I originally portrayed him. From what I could tell he was a jock and a bully to others. How I was wrong. My time with Trowa has taught me that he is just trying to fit in rather than be himself. It is a shame because the real Trowa is beautiful, understanding and truthful.

Before I knew it, the school bell had rang to signal the end of the lesson and the start of Lunch. Duo seemed to snap out of his own world as he jumped slightly in his seat. He gave out a big yawn before turning to me.

"You wanna go to the Music room?" I gave him a small smile and nodded. The music room is the only place Duo finds safe to go. I cringed remembering the time we decided to eat in the canteen which ended up with Duo getting covered in mushy peas and ketchup. I don't understand how people can be so cruel to a such a kind hearted person. But then again people who live in the North of the Sanc don't see past the fact that he has no money and is from the South. This civil feud has gone on for too long with undesired results. From the corner of my eye I could see Trowa talking to some teachers down the hall way. My heart sank a little as he had his back to me and I didn't get chance to say 'Hi'. Duo made his way to the Music Room while I jogged slightly to keep up.

I felt my belly rumble as we reached the empty room, good job I brought a big lunch today. We both sat down on the small chairs and pulled out our lunch boxes. Duo's lunch consisted of one apple and a poorly made bread and butter sandwich. I guess the church can't afford to put anything in the sandwiches. I pulled out my sandwich and unwrapped it from it's foiled wrapper. Seeing it was about twice the size of Duo's I quickly swapped them round before he had the chance to start eating his. 

"Q...You didn't have to." Yeah I didn't have to, but the smile on his face at the moment is worth more than a triple Cheese and Pickle sandwich. Even though it is my favourite.

"It's OK Duo I'm not that hungry anyway." I smiled opening my bag of crisps and placing them within the bread and butter sandwich. "So what have you been up to all weekend?"

"We had the monthly baseball match yesterday." He said as he gobbled down a large bite from his first sandwich. I laughed as he took about 3 minutes to just chew and sallow.

"Did you win?"

"Nah, Heero did." He informed getting ready for another bite. "To be fair he deserved it. He did play well. Him and Sister Helen are so competitive no wonder their team won!" I chuckled remembering the time that I had taken part in the monthly match. Sister Helen had gone crazy and had tried everything to beat our team, however we won by 7 points.

"What did you get as the loosing prize?" He grinned, digging his hand into his pocket he pulled out a snack size chocolate bar.

"I can't bring myself to eat it." He explained looking down at the bar in his hand. "I've only ate chocolate a few times in my life. To me it's like a rare diamond." I wish I could understand his situation. Sometimes I feel ashamed to have what I've got while others suffer or go without. Whenever I visit the church I always place some money in the donations box by the front doors. Without donations Duo's orphanage wouldn't be here.

"I think I'm just going to save it for a special occasion." He spoke stuffing it back into his pocket before taking another large bite from the sandwich. I dug into my lunch too remembering the amount of time I've eaten chocolate in my life. It's shame so many people, including myself, take such things for granted. 

"What happened to your glasses Duo?" I asked as he finished chewing another monster bite from my cheese and pickle sandwich.

"Oh...Ermmm...Heero chucked them out of the window."

"What? Why?" I asked confused and a little amused. That's exactly what I've been wanting to do since I met him.

"He told me they belonged in the rubbish tip." He said rolling his eyes. "He asked me if I could see without them and of course I couldn't lie..."

"Duo you know what he said is true."

"I know, I know! Sheesh!" He blabbered. "You know my reason for wearing them Q. Besides I'm kinda getting used to them."

"Oh no you don't!" I cried reaching forward to grab them from his face. "There's no way I'm going to let those ugly things take over your face!"

"Hey!" I heard Duo cry as I jumped on him. "Q!" He yelled as he tried to hold me back. Suddenly I clamped my hands on his waist and started to tickle him – This is Duo's worst nightmare.

"OH MY GOD!" His eyes widened as laughter bubbled from his mouth. Tears began to trickle down his face as he tried his hardest to get me off him. "Q! Get off me! ARGHHHHHHH!"

"What the hell are you two doing?" A low voice asked from the door. In sync both mine and Duo's head snapped towards the door to find Heero Yuy standing there with his hands on his hips and a confused slightly scared expression on his face.

"Oh...Hi Heero!" I called awkwardly quickly taking my hands off Duo's waist. "I was Ermmm...Just tickling Duo."

"I can see that." He answered his expression didn't change. "Why?"

"Ermmm...For fun?"

"Fun." He raised his eyebrow at me before turning his attention onto Duo who was shaking in his seat. I could feel him because I still hadn't gotten up from my place on his lap.

"Duo I just came to see if you wanted to come and eat with us." Duo's eyes widened to the size of plates.

"Eat...With...You." He spoke with uncertainty. "Where?"

"In the canteen Baka." Heero snorted rolling his eyes. What does Baka mean? "So you gonna come or what?"

"Ermmm..." Duo bit his lip considering his answer. I knew what was going through his brain. He was remembering what happened last time he went to eat in the canteen. He was called a dirty Southy and threatened never to go in there again. "I suppose...If Q came to."

"Of course Quatre's invited. Trowa's been bugging me all day to help him find him." Trowa's been trying to find me? I felt a smile come to my face. Wait a minute...He might... "So you gonna come?"

"Yeah Sure!" Duo chirped up. I got to my feet and grabbed my lunch and my bag. We both followed Heero through the school towards the canteen. Everyone seemed to part in the hall way as Heero walked down all of them saying 'Hi' to him as he walked past. It's funny however Heero seemed to ignore all of them. We got to the other side of the school and to the entrance of the canteen. Duo suddenly stopped in his tracks. Frowning I turned to him with a questioning look.

"I don't know if I want to eat in there any more." He spoke quietly. "Zac said he would get me if I ever stepped foot in their again."

"Duo come on..." I said walking up to him and placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "It'll be OK, that was two years ago. He's probably forgotten now." I smiled at him.

"Hey Baka!" Heero called noticing that we had stopped. He stood at the canteen door holding it slightly open. "You coming?"

"Yeah I'm coming." Duo answered meekly before looking at me. "Anything for the one you love right?" With that he took off towards Heero and entered the canteen.

I followed closely behind and took a look around the room I hadn't stepped foot in since Duo's humiliation two years ago. The room was massive as it had to cater for most of the 700 students at the school. Large, round red tables littered the room all of them full with chattering students. A long queue for the food trailed down the left hand side of the room. The room was loud and full of mindless chatter. I followed closely behind Duo and I could feel his worry radiating onto me. It's a shame he has to even feel threatened in a place like this. The real Duo I know would stand up and fight for himself. But here, he is a completely different person.

"HEY CHOIR GEEK!" There was a abrupt loud call as the canteen suddenly went quiet. The only sound I could hear was my own heart beat in my chest. It was pounding away like a speeding train. Duo stopped instantly in his tracks. His back tensed up and his head dropped. He knew who it was. 

"What makes you think you can come in here again Freak?" Zac Spencer spoke up as he rose from his seat at one of the far tables. "Thought I told you never to show your face in here again." He said as he made his way over to Duo. I watched as Duo's shoulders began to shake. He was panicking. For one he didn't want to be humiliated again, and another he hated having everyone's attention on him. If it was up to him he would never have set foot in here again. But like he said 'Anything for the one you love.'

"You knew what the consequences were if you stepped foot in here." Zac snarled as he stopped in front of Duo. I could feel the anger radiating off Duo. The anger which he couldn't show, the anger which was making mine even stronger. Zac gave him a hard shove. Duo stumbled back slightly and I raised my hands in a relax to stop him from falling. "You know we are all too good for you, dirty Southy." 

"That's not true!" I yelled feeling Duo's overwhelming anger mixing with mine. It was begging me to scream everything I ever wanted to say to people like him. Bullies! That's what they were. "How dare you speak to him like that!"

"What makes you think your any better Winner?" Zac suddenly turned his attention to me pushing Duo violently out of the way and onto the floor with a loud crash. "Just cuz Daddy has money doesn't mean your top notch in this school mate."

"Yeah but being kind and caring does." A voice suddenly spoke up from behind me. It sounded so dark it sent a shiver down my spine. I felt someone suddenly grip onto my hand and pull me into their large chest. "If you have a problem with Quatre, then you have a problem with me."

"Hey Trowa man, I'm sorry!" Zac put his hands up in surrender suddenly realising that someone much bigger and more popular than himself was squaring up to him. If Zac pissed Trowa off enough his school rep would be ruined. "I didn't think he was worthy of being in here."

"Quatre is more worthy than anyone of being in here." Trowa stated anger laced his words. I felt his grip on my hand tighten while I felt my anger slowly melt away. "Even more than you."

"Wait Trowa buddy you don't mean that!" Zac raised his eyebrows, the look of horror over his face. "Your acting as if you're into him or something."

"I am." My eyes widened at the statement. What...I think I'm having a dream. I must be having a dream. "And if anyone has a problem with that!" He yelled even louder. "Then you can all personally come and tell me to my face and suffer the consequences!"

"Woah! Tro! Mate! It's cool seriously!" Zac answered backing away. "I don't care if your into dudes!"

"Good."

"But what I do care, " Zac continued turning to look at Duo who was still on the floor rubbing a swore spot on his head. "Is that Southy's like him..." He suddenly violently kicked Duo in the stomach. I winced as I watched my best friend recoil in pain. "Think they can do what they please, you should know your place Southy! What you people did to us is unforgivable and you should all...Huh? What...Hey Heero."

SMACK!

Oh Jesus Christ! I think Heero has just killed Zac. Zac's body seemed to fly up into the air and smash into a couple of tables just behind him. He fell to the floor with a loud thump, his head smacking against the floor. I watched as Heero marched over to him and placed his foot on Zac's neck, choking him in the process.

"Heero! What the hell!" Zac yelled through gasping breaths horrified that the coolest, most popular guy in the whole school wanted to kick his ass because he insulted 'The Geek'. I could see in his eyes that he knew at that very moment his rep was finished.

"Say Duo's not a dirty Southy." Heero commanded, much like an army officer. Zac shook his head but yelped as Heero pressed his foot harder into his neck. "Say, Duo is not a dirty Southy."

"ARGHHHH DUO'S NOT A DIRTY SOUTHY!" Zac yelled in anger and distress. His hands were currently trying their hardest just to get Heero's foot off his neck.

"Say I am the biggest Loser in the whole world." Zac's eyes darkened in anger. Heero raised one eyebrow at him.

"You know, I seem to remember this one time last summer..." He started when Zac's eyes suddenly widened.

"OK, OK!" He yelled. "I AM THE BIGGEST LOSER IN THE WHOLE WORLD!"

"Hn." Heero snorted. "We know." The canteen burst out in laughter at the comment as Heero removed his foot. Zac scrambled to his place on the floor with the look of hate in his eyes.

"Now run along Geek." Heero spoke death glaring the other boy. "Your not welcome in here any more."

"But..."

"Get out or omae o korosu." Heero's voice was low and deadly and scared the crap out of me. Zac seemed to back off after that. He turned to look at his friends over the other side of the room who had turned their backs to him. He hung his head in shame before making his way over to the canteen exit. The door slammed shut with a loud bang and the next thing we knew everyone was cheering Heero's success. It looks like Duo wasn't he only one Zac liked to pick on.

I watched within Trowa's grasp as Heero held a hand out for Duo to help him from the floor. The look on Duo's face was pure shock.

"Quatre...Can I please speak to you in private for a second?" The buzz from Heero's act suddenly died, replacing it was a cold, nerve wrecking emotion. He doesn't know Quatre, stop being so stupid.

**(Duo POV)**

I can't think of anything to say. For the first time in my whole life I can't think of anything to say. It took me a couple of seconds to realise Heero was holding his hand out for me to take. He was helping me up after he had just saved me from Zac. I grabbed his hand gratefully as I wrapped the other round my aching stomach. Getting to my feet I let go of a large breath of air in relief. The canteen was cheering. Many of the people were shouting 'Heero' in a chant. However I couldn't take my eyes off Heero's beautiful face. He was my Savour, My Prince.

"You OK Duo?" He asked, his voice was completely monotonous giving me no clue as to if he was actually really concerned or not. But he must be he just saved me from my worst nightmare. Heero really is my knight in shining armour.

"I'm fine...I think." I moaned as I took in a breath of air. Zac really did kick me very hard.

"Let's go sit down." He cocked his head over to where WuFei was sat at one of the large red tables on his own looking completely oblivious to what had just gone on. I nodded hesitantly. I was going to be sitting at the head table. No one ever had the privilege. I glanced round to see Trowa was leading Q over to the canteen doors. I wonder where they are going...No...Actually I don't want to know.

I plonked myself down at the table and pulled out my packed lunch while Heero pulled out a bottle of water and an energy bar. WuFei's eyes glanced up at me from were he had his head bowed staring at his disguising bowl of pasta and cream sauce. Everything was silent until WuFei spoke.

"You took that like a girl Maxwell. Jesus Christ, I think my mother would have taken a pop at him."

"Wha?" I cried confused. "He pushed me..."

"He pushed me meahmeahmeah." WuFei copied mockingly. Heero raised a questioning eyebrow at his friend. "You really need to stand up for yourself more often do you know that?"

"Well..."

"Come on Maxwell insult me." WuFei suddenly spoke. "Insult me, throw me some abuse."

"No I don't want to."

"Come on pussy."

"Ermmm..."

"Maxwell's a pussy, Maxwell's a pussy..."

"Alright! You're the biggest twat I have ever met, you go around acting like macho man of the world while you are one of the skinniest kids I've ever seen. Your a loser because you can never compete athletically against Heero and Trowa and you are blatantly only on the Football team to prove that point to yourself. You have a body like a girl and even style you hair like one, though it looks so greasy I think if you ever took it down it would stay in the same place. Maybe everyone should call you WuFeina because of your girly..."

"I'm gonna fucking kick your ass Maxwell...!" WuFei yelled as he tried to climb across the table towards me but Heero grabbed the back of his jumper and pulled him back down in his seat. Wait a minute. He's laughing. Heero Yuy is laughing. AGAIN!

"Why are you laughing Yuy, Maxwell has just ripped the piss outta me big time!" WuFei's comment only made Heero laugh even more hysterically. I felt a smile come to my lips as I began to laugh as well. "Yuy shut up or I'll kill you. Oh no you don't Maxwell! You don't even have the right to laugh after what you've just said!" That only caused both of us to laugh even louder.

"EXCUSE ME EVERYONE!" There was a loud call over the chatter in the canteen. That instantly cut my and Heero's laugher. Twirling round in my seat I found Relena by the entrance of the canteen standing on one of the tables while holding a large bundle of white and pink envelopes in her hands. Today she was wearing a pink mini skirt with knee high white socks with little pink dolly shoes. All she wore on top was a tight white cardigan which showed off her curvaceous breasts to their best potential. Every guys attention was on them. Well apart from mine. In fact I think WuFei was more interested in his pasta.

"SORRY IT'S TAKEN ME SO LONG TO GET HERE THIS LUNCH TIME!" She yelled flicking a piece of her blonde hair behind her. "I HAVE HOWEVER IN MY HANDS INVITATIONS TO MY WELCOME PARTY AT THE WINNER ESTATE." The canteen suddenly broke out into a cheer.

"AS I CALL YOUR NAME OUT WILL YOU PLEASE COME TO ME AND GET YOUR INVITATION!" She called happily. Great. Another Winner party I won't be invited to. I sighed and turned round in my seat intending to get back to the best sandwich I have ever had in my whole life.  
"HOWEVER FIRST OF ALL I WOULD LIKE TO HAND OUT THE GUEST OF HONOUR INVITATION." I heard her call. "DUO MAXWELL, COULD YOU PLEASE COME AND GET YOUR INVITATION."

What the fuck..."What the fuck?" I heard Heero imitating my exact thought. I slowly raised from my seat and made my way towards the pink devil. This had to be some kind of joke. Why the hell would Relena make me her guest of honour at her welcome party? Then again why would Heero suddenly back me up against Zac? Someone must have placed something in the water because everyone has started to go nuts!

"Here you go Duo." Relena gave me a sickening smile as she held out her invitation for me to take. "I hope you can attend."

"Yeah..." I answered unsure and very bewildered! She must be up to something... Is it right to say that I'm scared shitless, she's a crazy woman! I wondered back to the table and took my seat next to Heero.

Everyone's name was called out. People squealed in joy that they had actually gained an invitation. Lastly she drawled out Heero's name. Heero stayed were he was sat in his seat indicating for Relena to come over to him if she wanted him to come. I watched as she snarled in her place on the table and reluctantly jumped off to make her way over to him. Shoving the invitation into his grasp she turned her attention to me of all people.

"I hope you can make it Duo." She beamed...In a very scary Relena way. "My Bunny Q will be so happy."

"Bunny Q?" What the hell...She has finally gone crazy. I don't know what scares me the most, the fact that Relena likes Quatre or the look she is giving me right now.

"Yes my Bunny Q, Quatre's Father thinks we are a great couple." You know I have never experienced a day with so many unexpected twists. I heard Heero snort sarcastically at the comment, Relena glared at him evilly. "Like I said Duo I hope you can make it. See you all there!" With that she skipped away to join the rest of her friends over the other side of the canteen. The mood at the table after she left turned sour, most of it coming from Heero. I felt a pang of jealousy as it came to me - Heero was still into Relena.

Suddenly Zech's words came back to me. Maybe it was true. Maybe Heero did sleep with Zechs. Maybe that's why they broke up. Maybe I did have a chance.

In your dreams Maxwell. It will always be in your dreams.

**TBC...**

So why did Heero help Duo? What have Trowa and Quatre gone off to talk about?...You're just gonna have to wait until I come back off Hoilday to find out Mwhahahaha lol REVIEW!

Loves xxxx


	18. Relena's Welcome Party

**Disclaimer** – I noticed I didn't have one! Ooops so first of all, I dont' own Gundam Wing or any of the songs that are in this fic already and or are to come. However I do own the story! Woo!

**Chapter 18**

**Relena's Welcome Party**

**(Trowa POV)**

Quatre looked nervous as we made our way down the school corridor. I could see he was shaking slightly as we quickly entered one of the empty classrooms. I closed the door swiftly behind us as I saw Relena marching up the corridor towards the canteen with a large bunch of pink and white envelopes in her hands. Great, looks like another party is on the way. However that's the last thing that is going to be on my mind. The pressing issue at the moment however is what happened Saturday night.

"Quatre..." I started but was cut off by his sudden mindless chatter as if he knew I was going to say. Well, I think he knew I was going to say. Though he could be tense over what just happened in the canteen. "Quatre could I please get a word in..."

"Trowa..." He whimpered in distress, the look on his face was horrific as if he was about to collapse.

"I know about Duo." I spoke trying to think of a way to say everything I wanted to say. Quatre's head bowed sadly at my words as if I had just strangled him to death. I was suddenly over come by shock that Shinigami was indeed Duo Maxwell because Quatre knew what I was talking about. All the questions that have been running through my head all weekend suddenly came to my mind such as: 'Why was Duo dancing at the club', 'How come no one knew?' and 'Why isn't he more like Shinigami at School?' The whole situation explained why he dressed so weirdly, why he wore that ugly hat and why he wore those stupid big glasses. "Quatre..."

"Please don't tell anyone." He pleaded desperately. "Duo's life would be over...my life would be over...he would never be able to go back to the church or school."

"Quatre…" I sighed. I knew what would happen if everyone found out. I couldn't do that to anyone. "Do you really think that I would be that cruel?"

"Trowa..." He murmured the look of relief coming to his face. I can't believe he thought I was going to tell everyone!

"All I want to know is how and why." I stated eager to know. Quatre seemed to bite his lip in hesitation as to whether to spill the beans on the mystery of Duo Maxwell.

"Duo...has had a hard life, Trowa." He started off. The look on his face showed me he was picking his words out carefully. "When he first came to this school he was a loner. No one wanted to befriend him just because he's from the South and had no money. People at this school are way to hung up on the war and having money to not even care if a person is decent and has a kind heart. However, I saw past everyone's stupidity and saw what a kind and caring person Duo really is."

I watched as Quatre turned to gaze out the window, placing his hand on his heart he spoke. "I remember the first day he walked into my home room. I had such an overwhelming wave of emotion from him, the most I've ever felt before. It was a mix of anger, hate and sadness. He'd just been beaten up in the corridor and called 'A Dirty Southy'." I could see the look of anger in Quatre's eyes as he was remembering the moment.

"He was introduced to the class and was instantly picked on for his poor sense of fashion, but what can you expect from donations to a church in the South?" Quatre turned to me with a sigh. "I was the only person who talked to him like a human being that day. Yet, he never said much at the beginning, it was like he was shielding himself away from any hurt I might cause him if he actually opened up."

"As the weeks and months went by, Duo did start to open up and I found that my new best friend was kind and considerate. About two years into our friendship he told me a bit about his life on the streets and his job at the club – however he was being very vague about it all. Though I wasn't about to judge him on any of it." Quatre's eyes burned into mine so intensely that I couldn't look away. "You see Trowa, I can't tell you how or why because he never told me. Even though he does sing and dance in one of East Ends roughest club that doesn't change what type of person he is. Duo Maxwell is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet and I will try my best to keep him happy as he deserves it."

I stood there in silence for a moment as if trying to take all that Quatre had just said in. I for one never imagined Duo coming from the streets, I thought he'd been living at the church all his life. I've heard stories of what kids do on the streets just get some food. Just imaging Duo struggle trying to get some food is horrifying not even mentioning what he would have to do to gain the money to buy the food in the first place.

"Quatre..." I spoke trying to find the right words to say. "I can't say that I understand how Duo feels or why he dances at Underworld...but from what I saw Duo has a talent...a brilliant one. I saw he came to life when performing, maybe that's why he works there." Quatre smiled brightly nodding his head in agreement.

"And I want to assure you that I will not tell anyone. I was just worried that's all. But, what I do know is what those show folk are like and what the people are like in those parts of town. I just wanted to say that I'm here for you and Duo if you need any help or get into trouble." Quatre smiled brightly at me, his blue eyes shimmered in the glimmering sunlight as it streamed through the large windows of the classroom. Quatre really does look like an angel. He has perfect creamy white skin and beautiful features. I found that I couldn't take my eyes off him. I hadn't noticed that I'd even crossed the classroom towards him until our legs brushed together because of how close we were.

My heart is beating so hard in my chest it felt like it is about to bust open. Everything is so silent apart from the faint sound of the screaming and laughing from children coming from the school playground. Our gaze was so intense everything seemed to just melt away and leave me and Quatre. Just the two of us. The way I like it.

"Trowa..." Quatre murmured a mix of emotions flying across his face from worry to nervousness to desire. All the things which were going through myself as well. I found myself trailing my eyes down his body, staring at his perfection. Reaching out I intertwined our fingers together, feeling his soft skin against mine sent a tingle through my body.

Suddenly the classroom door flew open and a group of giggling girls made their way into the classroom making us jump. Pissed off I, let go of Quatre's hand before I noticed that all the girls were waving pink and white envelopes around as they chatted excitedly about one of Relena's parties...a welcome party to be exact. At the Winner mansion.

"Oh Allah..." I heard Quatre murmur running a hand through his blonde hair. "I bet she's invited the whole school." She probably had, apart from me. "Come on lets go find out the damage." I nodded in agreement. He smiled at me before making his way towards the classroom door. Exiting we found people littering the corridor all holding pink and white envelopes.

"Quatre!" We suddenly heard a screech as a pink blur came running towards us. Oh god no. "Quatre I've been so worried! I've been looking for you all day!"

"Relena, we've had every class together." Quatre dead-panned giving her a weird look. I smirked at the comment which Relena chose to ignore.

"I just wanted to say that I've given out all my invitations, our party is going to be party of the year Hunny!" She suddenly jumped on Quatre giving him a big pink hug. The look on Quatre's face was comical. I laughed at the sight. Relena's head suddenly snapped towards me giving me a the biggest evil look I had ever seen.

"Hope you know you're not invited Trowa." She snarled while still hanging on Quatre

"Yes he is." Quatre suddenly snapped. Relena turned her attention back to him.

"But why Hunny? You've been spending so much time with Trowa that I never get to see you." She spoke in a cooing voice as she drew circles on his chest using her perfectly manicured finger.

"Relena please," Quatre rolled his eyes while prying her arm from around his neck. "Get over whatever you hold against Trowa. He's coming and that's final."

"But..."

"Come on Trowa, lets go." Quatre suddenly grabbed my hand and dragged me away from Relena. Turning I gave her a mocking wave and smile as we went. Relena in return gave me the finger and twirled round on her heel to stomp away. Hmmmm...maybe this will be the party of the year...

**(Duo POV)**

I sighed as I collapsed back on my bed after another hard days work at school. Stifling a yarn I closed my tired eyes. Tonight is Relena's welcome party and I don't know if I should be looking forward to go or not. The only good thing about it is that I will get to spend time with Q. However having to spend four hours with Relena and the rest of the school is a horrifying thought.

A small knock on my bedroom door thought me from my thoughts. Wondering who it could be I jumped up and pulled the door open to find Heero standing behind it.

"Heero...What's up?" I asked slightly confused to why he had come to my bedroom.

"What are you planning to wear tonight?" He asked abruptly stunning me with the random question.

"Probably what I'm wearing now." I answered slowly. "Why...?"

"You're not going in that." He said in disgust raising one eyebrow. Today I am wearing ripped baggy jeans and a tie dye t-shirt. I suppose I do look pretty bad, unlike him and everyone else at school I don't have the money to go out and buy myself a new outfit. "What size are you?"

"Eh? Why?" I asked in confusion.

"I have a spare suit." He answered motioning for me to follow him. "Come on." Hesitatingly I followed him down the corridor and towards his bedroom. He'd just come back from his house after going for a shower. You know I am really starting to enjoy my showers at school thanks to Zechs, I smell nice every day for the first time in my life. Entering Heero's bedroom he went to the old wardrobe and opened it. The next thing I knew, he'd pulled out two suits. Taking a look at both he finally decided to place the plain black one on the bed and pass me the black pin strip. Does he actually want me to wear this? I've never worn a suit before…

"You can wear it tonight. Just don't spill anything down it." He stated like an order rather than a simple caution. I nodded happily. I wonder what's got into Heero lately first saving me from Zac and now he's lending me a suit because he blatantly knows that I was going to be the worst dressed person there.

"Thanks Heero I really appreciate it." Folding the suit carefully over my arm I went to exit the room. "What time are we leaving?"

"We'll have to leave at about 19:00 to be at Quatre's when the party starts." He replied monotonously. "I'll meet you in the church." I nodded my head in comprehension before making my way back to my room. I had thirty minutes to get ready. Like I had much to do anyway. All I need to do is redo my braid and put Heero's suit on. Piece of Piss.

_35 Minutes Later_

Like I said piece of piss, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna be ready on time. So sue me! My hair just wouldn't stay in my hat I had to grip it in place with some of Molly's butterfly hair grips. At least when my hair was dirty it would stick to my head. I swiftly made my way to the church while pulling on Heero's jacket as I walked. To be honest the suit looked nice on me and probably cost more than all of my possessions put together. I had a glance at the tag before I put it on. I think the suit was Armani. Entering the church through the kitchens I quietly crept through to the main part of the church.

I found Heero standing at the altar staring up at the large stain glass window. I gasped at the sight of him. He looked perfect, his black suit had a tinge of blue in it which I hadn't noticed in his bedroom. It clung to him in all the right places. His hair was ruffled as usual but he looked like a celebrity. I coughed loudly to get his attention, he must have been in deep thought because he jumped at the noise. Twirling round his burning deep blue eyes landed on me and sent a shiver down my spine. He looked amazing. Trying to find the words to break the silence, it's just my luck I couldn't find any. I just stood there gaping like a fish.

"You're still wearing that stupid hat." He said soundly slightly disappointed. I bit my lip trying to think of a reasonable excuse.

"My hair looks horrible...I don't think anyone would want to see it." I spoke slowly

"Hn." He shrugged his shoulders and cocked his head towards the church doors. "We'd better get going."

"Yeah I suppose." I murmured as I followed him out and towards his car. I've never been in Heero's car before. It feels so strange sitting in the front passenger seat. It's like a dream, this is supposed to be Relena's seat. This is the car of the two most popular people in school and now I'm sitting in it. The ride to the Winner estate was quiet I could tell Heero was still in deep thought over something but I didn't know what. I just hope it's not over what he saw in the forest on Sunday night. He has been quiet since then. Well to be honest he's always quite and I'm probably just being paranoid old me.

The queue to enter Quatre's house was so long it lined down the long road outside the manor. We however gained a queue jump due to myself being guest of honour. People glared at me as I passed them while some even tried to trip me up. All the girls however had their eyes on perfect Heero. I couldn't blame them. He looked hot. We entered the mansion to find the inner front hall had been decorated to Relena's liking. Of course everything was pink. Pink draping, Pink dance floor, Pink stage. All the waitersand staff were dressed in Pink – poor them!

"Duo!" There was a loud screeching noise as Relena appeared from nowhere, handing me and Heero both a very large glass of punch. "You look so handsome!"

"Errr...thanks?" I replied. Why the hell is she acting all nice to me? I'm starting to feel that this whole thing is a mistake and that I should go home. Taking a large gulp from my glass I grimaced. Someone had already spiked the punch, it tasted mostly like vodka! Jesus and I haven't had anything to eat...I'm gonna get pissed and fast.

Suddenly I noticed Relena had been jabbering on about something probably nothing as usual. Heero seemed to have gone into his own little world. How the hell did he put up with Relena? I wondered as I took another large sip. Maybe if I get pissed this party won't be so bad. I saw Relena grin as I downed the last bit of my drink. Perhaps that's what she wanted to happen. She wanted me to get pissed and then take the mick outta me. It would be the gossip of the century. Duo Maxwell choir geek, the guest of honour got pissed outta his face at Relena's welcome party and made a fool outta himself. That sounds more like Relena rather than being Miss Nice.

"Anyway I'll see you later." She called flashing a false smile at the two of us before greeting all the new guests. I rolled my eyes before heading in the direction of the punch suddenly getting into a very bad mood. Grabbing another large glass I downed it in one. I knew she had a secret plan of humiliating me. Everyone usually does. I'm surprised this suit of Heero's hasn't got Loser written on the back and I haven't noticed. Grabbing another drink I twirled round to find Heero had actually followed me to the table. He raised his eyebrow at me.

"I didn't think people like you could drink like that." He stated looking slightly surprised.

"Well there's a lot of things you don't know about me Heero." I replied in a slightly harsher tone than I would have liked. I took another large gulp.

"Well, that's what I'm here for." I heard Heero's reply as he scooped his cup into the punch. He took a large gulp from his. I raised my eyebrow at him.

"I didn't think people like you could drink either."

"Alcohol doesn't effect me."

"Yeah right!" I rolled my eyes at him which only earned me a glare in return. "Alright then I bet I could drink more than you." I bet I could. I've been drinking since I was 10 years old.

"You're on." He smirked as we both downed our drinks and eyed each other competitively. Three drinks later I was starting to feel a bit sick from the taste of punch and opted for a glass of champagne as it passed. I think Heero was feeling the same as he copied my movements. Oh man, whatever they put in that punch was strong and did not mix well with champagne. I watched as Heero downed his glass in one and then grabbed another from another passing waitress. It was that moment that my world seemed to crash around me. Oh Jesus mother fucking Christ.

Across the room my eyes spied Hilde chatting to some of the boys from my school. She was dressed in a light pink mini dress which could only mean one thing. She was working for Relena. You wanna know how I know that – Hilde never ever wears pink, which means the only reason she is here is to make quick, easy money. Oh God, I hope she doesn't recognize me. Jesus Christ I think I'm going to have a heart attack!

Suddenly another person joined the group...You have got to be kidding me. Raj, the Underworld's Dj and one of my singing partners was with her, the two of them seemed to be in a deep discussion over something. The only reason Raj would be here is if he was the DJ. That must mean...Hilde's performing. I think God must really hate me. What have I done so wrong? Oh god I need another drink.

"Duo you came." I heard Quatre call from behind making me jump slightly. I wonder if Quatre knows Hilde's here. Twirling round I found Quatre come running towards me in a pure white suit accompanied with a baby blue shirt. Trowa followed Quatre slowly behind, his eye were glued on me for the whole time making me feel nervous.

"Well do you like the decorations?" Quatre asked

"Ermmm..well..."

"You know, I don't think my house has ever looked so bad." Quatre stated causing me to chuckle.

"I can't say your wrong there, Q." I laughed

"You look nice Duo." Quatre smiled "I knew you'd look nice in a suite."

"Thanks Q...Hey do you think I could speak to you in private for a second?" I asked wanting to get down to the bottom of the pressing issue of why Hilde and Raj were here. Quatre nodded and followed me to a secluded corner away from the hustle and bustle of the very crowded hall. Taking a quick glance around us to make sure no one was listening in I spoke.

"Did you know Hilde's here?" I whispered, Quatre's eyes suddenly shot open in shock as he hastily shook his head.

"No, how? Why?" He babbled the look of shock and horror all over his face.

"I don't know but I need to find out." I murmured my eyes scanning the room to see if anyone else I knew was here. "Without her finding out I'm here obviously. She'll blow my cover big time!"

"Duo I promise hand on my heart I didn't know she was here or what she is doing here!" Quatre cried.

"I think she's working...She's wearing pink." Quatre grimaced at the mention of the ugly colour. Suddenly a girls voice boomed out around the room from the large speaks and subwoofers. Oh Jesus it's her.

"HEY EVERYONE! WELCOME TO RELENA'S WELCOME PARTY!" Hilde yelled from her place on the large stage at the back of the hall. Everyone seemed to crowd round at that point. Glancing over to Heero and Trowa I saw both of their eyes widen. They knew who she was...Fuck, fuck, fuck, -forgive me father- fuck. More and more dancers all which I knew and danced with personally jumped up on the stage. All the girls were in mini dresses a slightly darker pink than Hilde's while the men were dressed in black shirts and trousers. I took another large sip of my 8th drink since I got here thirty minutes ago and damn it in Hell I needed it.

"MY NAME'S HILDE AND I'M HERE TO MAKE YOUR NIGHT JUST THAT LITTLE BIT MORE SPECIAL!" She grinned madly at the growing crowd as more people started to enter the large great hall. "I'M GONNA START OFF WITH ONE OF MY PERSONAL FAVOURITES!"

She twirled round on the spot to face Raj and nodded for him to start the music up. The lights in the room went off leaving only the stage lit up. The crowd started to go wild as Hilde's first song of the night came on. One that I recognized instantly and I'd personally wrote for her.

I watched as she stood in the middle of the stage snapping her fingers to the beat. The other dancers around her started to dance seductively.

"**Oooohhh I love to love you baby..."** She sung with her back to the crowd, the spot light was just about lighting her and the other dancers up.

"**I love to love you baby."** The other girl dancers whispered on the stage as they

"**Ohhhhhhhh I love to love you baby"** She moaned again as two male dancers came to her side. Placing her hands on both of the mens' shoulders she swerved her hips sexily to the trancing music. Suddenly she push one to the floor, she fell backwards the other caught her just as she was about to touch the floor.

"**I'm feelin' sexy."** She moaned as she ran her hand down the dancers face."**I wanna hear you say my name boy."** Suddenly another male dancer grabbed her hand pulling her up towards him. Holding her hands up over her head, he dropped his head close to her neck. "**If you can reach me."** She sung as her eyelashes dropping slightly in pleasure. "**You can feel my burning flame."** Pushing him away like she did to the others she strutted across the stage eyeing up everyone in the crowd as she did.

Suddenly all the lights went off and all you could hear was Hilde's voice combined with the other female dancers. "**I'm feelin kind of n-a-s-t-y, I just might take you home with me."**

The lights abruptly started to flash madly on the stage lighting up all the dancers slightly as they posed in different positions every time the lights went off. All the while Hilde sung, **"Baby the minute I feel your energy, your vibe's just taken over me, start feelin' so crazy babe!" **

The lights came back on however not so bright to heighten the seductive mood. Surges of pink and red lights went round the room. **"Lately, I feel the funk coming over me, I don't know what's gotten into me." **Hilde sung as she slipped off her small pink cardigan seductively.** "The rhythm's got me feelin' so crazy babe." **

**"Tonight I'll be your naughty girl!" **She moaned seductively as she skipped over towards the stage stairs leading onto the dance floor. Some of the female dancers followed her while the others started to dance with the nearest male dancer. **"I'm callin' all my girls, we're gonna turn this party out, I know you want my body." **She sung chucking Finch Martin, one of Sanc High School's jocks, her pink cardigan before giving him a seductive grin.I watched as she started to get closer the crowds parting as she danced her way through. Most of the guys had their mouths hanging wide open at how sexy Hilde and her dancers are. I moved slightly to hide behind Quatre. I bet you my heart would be going a mile a minute if I hadn't of drank so much alcohol. If I moved she would notice because at the moment everyone currently has all their attention on her. I greedily downed the rest of my drink to calm my nerves. You know, I never realised how much I liked this song. I began to click my fingers to the music as the alcohol I consumed started to take its toll on my body.

**"Tonight I'll be your naughty girl."** She sung loudly as she strolled past everyone stopping every so often to run her hand down some guys chest or under their chin. Suddenly her eyes caught onto someone, someone I really didn't want her to see. A grin lit up on her face as she made her way towards Heero and Trowa who were standing about ten metres away from me and Quatre who were huddled in the corner. I could feel Quatre shaking in his place in front of me, however all I could do is smile at how ironic this all is – I always get bad luck. **"I'm callin' all my girls." **Reaching the two she grinned she eyed them both up.** "I see you look me up and down. And I came to party." **Twirling round on the spot she stopped and the worst thing in the whole world happened... She noticed me and Quatre.  
**  
**Fuck.

**TBC...**

Sorry guys you gotta wait till next time! The song in this fic is Beyonce's 'Naughty Girl' - if you don't know it download it:PLoads of love xxxxxx R&R xxx


	19. I need you

**Chapter 18**

**I need you**

**(Trowa POV)**

Oh God. The look on both Duo and Quatre's face at the moment is of pure horror and I don't blame them. For one: Duo is most likely going to be shown up in front of the whole school and two: his whole secret life maybe revealed. I watched as the same girl from the club started to dance seductively over to them as she sung.

"**You're so sexy."** She moaned as she ran her hands over her petite body while she had her eyes fixed on Duo. To be honest, Duo looks more pissed up than scared.

"**Tonight I am all yours, boy. The way your body moves across the floor."** Quatre suddenly dashed from his place in front of Duo while Duo managed to stay in the same spot. I could see the faint slightly drunken grin on his face. His stunning violet eyes glimmered in the surging lights.

"**Feelin' kinda N-A-S-T-Y. I just might take you home with me."** She grabbed his hand as she reached him and pulled him close to her small body. Running her hands over his shoulders she tugged on his suit jacket making it fall to the floor in one shift movement. Twirling her around on the spot Duo grinded up behind her as she complied and grinded back into him. "**Baby the minute I feel your energy. Your vibe has just taken over me. Start feelin' so crazy babe"**

I watched as the two of them did a slow seductive dance routine which consisted of Hilde raising her hands and running them down Duo's perfectly fitted suit as she sung. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Heero had his heated gaze up on to the two. "**Lately, I feel the funk coming over me. I don't know what's gotten into me. The rhythm's got me feelin' so crazy babe."**

Suddenly all the women dancers started to perform a professional dance routine as Hilde spun away from Duo towards the dance floor while singing. "**Tonight I'll be your naughty girl. I'm callin' all the girls," **

"**We're gonna turn this party out. I know you want my body."** The girl suddenly reached out her hand to the nearest guy who happened to be Wufei. I had to bite my lip to keep myself from bursting out with laughter as I took in the look on his face. He had turned bright red and his eyes had widened in shock. He was staying perfectly still while the girl wrapped one leg around him and threw her head back in what looked like pleasure. "**Tonight I'll be your naughty girl, I'm callin' all the girls, I see you look me up and down, and I think about it."**

"**Oooohhh I love to love you baby."** She moaned as she slowly brought her head back up. She levelled her eye sight with Wufei and gave him a seductive grin which just caused his eyes to widen even more. I could see him shaking in his spot as she slowly untangled herself from him.

"**I love to love you baby,"** The female dancers murmured in reply

"**Oooohhh I love to love you baby." **She sung again as she left Wufei and strutted up towards the stage shaking her ass as she did. I think that got every male's attention in the whole room. Well, apart from myself, Quatre and Duo.

"**I love to love you baby."** The female dancers whispered back.

"**Oooohhh, I love to love you baby."** She moaned as she join hands with a male dancer on stage. He twirled her into his chest as she sung the chorus. "**Tonight I'll be your naughty girl. I'm callin' all the girls." **More male dancers joined the stage while two others made their way over to her and lifted her small body up into the air. "**We're gonna turn this party out. I know you want my body,"**

"**Toniiiighhhhtttt!"** She sung loudly as the other female dancers continued with the chorus while they danced with their male partners.

"**Tonight, I'll be your naughty girl, Oh, Oh!"** The girl sung from her place in the air, her hands were meshed within her hair while her eyes were closed. She had the look of pleasure all over her face.

"**I love to love you baby!"** I listened as the song came to a close and the crowd went mental.

"**I love to love you baby!"** She sung one last time before the stage plunged into darkness. The crowd erupted with applause. Clapping slowly to myself I kept my eyes on Duo in the corner as he grabbed two more glasses of champagne from a passing tray. Downing one he settled to sipping the second as he sneakily made his way towards one of the many doors leading off to a different room within the Winner household. I wonder where he is going. I stayed in my place knowing if I moved Heero would notice Duo and would probably follow him. He really is a nosy bastard.

I listened in as the girl from the club said her thank-you's before leaving the stage for a breather. The DJ replaced the silence with a song from the charts so everyone could continued to dance together. Quatre in the meantime had picked up the suit jacket Duo had left on the floor and was staring after where the boy had just wandered off. He had a scared and a slightly concerned look on his face. Finally seeing it was safe to move as Heero still had his eyes trained on the singing girl as she was dismounting the stage, I made my way over to Quatre. The look in his eyes was fearful.

"Shit, Trowa..."

"I know."

"I never knew she was here." Quatre looked like he wanted to cry. "This could ruin everything for Duo." I nodded my head in comprehension, but there was nothing we could do. I thought Duo was already on his way to tell Hilde not to reveal his true self to everyone.

"I can't help but think this is all my fault again." Quatre murmured, I shook my head and placed my hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be OK. No one will find out." I spoke softly to try and calm his nerves. I could feel him shaking under my touch and all I wanted to do was pull him into my arms. However I knew I couldn't, not yet. But hopefully very soon.

**(Duo POV)**

I think I've drank too much. Jesus – I never recalled Quatre's house to move cause at the moment it feels like I'm on a ship. I slowly made my way through the long corridors of Quatre's house to where Hilde had told me to meet her at. When we were dancing a few minutes ago she had tapped – what we know as street code - on my leg telling me to meet her in her dressing room which was the downstairs dining room. I entered the room slowly half out of nerves to see who was actually here and the other half because I'm pissed outta my face and I think if I opened it fast I would fall over.

I thanked the lord I found only the dancers I knew, Hilde and a few make up artists had come to Relena's welcome party. Hilde swirled round instantly as I walked through the door. I raised my eyebrows at her as I removed my hat and glasses letting my hair fall down my back. A few of the dancers gasped as they realised it was me. I could feel myself swaying in the spot. Fucking hell...

"Hilde." I slurred trying to give her my best glare since she had just nearly cost me my whole life.

"Duo, I'm so sorry I just did that, but I need your help." She ushered as she made her way towards me. "Daniel hasn't turned up, I have no one to do my duet with which I have to perform in about five minutes! He was also scheduled to sing a song on his own afterwards as well and now we are going to be finishing thirty minutes before the party ends because of him." I took in a deep breath as I tried to sober myself up to understand what she was trying to get at.

"I've told Mr Winner and he's gone crazy! He said he would cut our costs by half if we don't perform properly. Duo please help us, you're the only person would could fill in his spot. We need you!" My eyes widened at her statement as everything seemed to settle into place. Oh Jesus-motherfucking-Christ is she actually being serious? Suddenly feeling a lot more sober than before, I squared up to her.

"Hilde, I can't...you're talking about performing in front of my whole school. Do you realise if anybody recognised me I would be screwed. That means no home, no education – I can't lose all of that to help you save a couple of quid!"

"It's not just a couple of quid Duo!" She yelled angrily before stepping closer to me and saying lowly so no one else could hear. "Dean wants £1000 off me tonight." I winced as she mentioned the name of her drug dealer. "He said would..." She gulped trying to find her words. "He said he would beat me if I don't get it to him by midnight tonight." I grit my teeth trying to hold back the string of curses and shouts I wanted to yell at Hilde for being so stupid, but I knew she didn't want anyone in the room to know. I'm the only person who knows about her drug addition. The look on her face told me how much she needed me and that she wasn't lying. I feel like my insides are being pulled apart. A part of me wants to help Hilde while the other is telling me how stupid I would be to go out there and perform.

"Go to the cops, Hilde. They will help you." She snorted at my comment because we both knew it was a load of bullshit. Since when could the police help a club dancing drug addict from the South? I bit my lip and closed my eyes trying to block out her pleading gaze.

"No." She stepped away from me then, and felt my whole heart shattered as I peeked open one eye to take a look at her face. The look of disappointment was clearly displayed, while there was a hint of fear.

"You know what Duo? I think you're a coward and a cold hearted bastard." She snarled. "It's times like this when you find out who your real friends are." I just stood there like the bastard I am, not saying anything. I wanted to help her I really did but there is no way I could go out on that stage and perform with her.

"Hilde I'm sorry but-"

"Save your breath Maxwell." She snapped, "Don't even bother." With that, she stormed out the room. The other dancers gave me looks of disgust as they followed her ready to perform their next act. Hilde's duet...without a partner. I felt my heart sink, the look in Hilde's eyes had stabbed me in the heart. She needed me and I wasn't going to help her.

"Sarah," I called, turning one of the make up artists. My heart started to beat fast in my chest. If I was going to do it I only had a limited amount of time to get ready. "Did you bring Daniel's clothes with you?"

"Yeah...why?"

"Because I'm going to need them."

**TBC...**


	20. Umbrella

**A/N - **I suggest that you download the songs to play along with this chap, they are Usher 'Yeah' and Rihanna and Chris Brown 'Umbrella/Cinderella'. Have fun! xxx

**Chapter 19**

**Umbrella**

**(Heero POV)**

You know, I think this is the best party Relena has ever thrown. For starters the Winners actually provided alcohol and second they hired decent entertainment. I wonder if Shinigami is here. If that girl is – I think her name was Hilde? - then he must be, or she could have been hired on her own. After thinking that I suddenly felt my heart sink, but why? I mentally slapped myself as the singing demon's violet eyes came to my mind. Com'on Heero, why are you thinking like this all the time?

Suddenly I noticed that I was standing on my own, I'd been daydreaming and I hadn't even noticed Trowa had left my side. Did I just say daydreaming...about a boy? I am so fucked up. Trowa had even had time to cross the room and engage in what looked like a deep conversation with Quatre, who was picking up my suit jacket off the floor. You know Duo must be pissed, he even tried to dance with Hilde. Wait a minute, where the hell is he? Don't tell me he ran off in embarrassment and left my jacket on the floor! The guy probably got a boner as she was dancing with him. That reminded me of Relena's statement – there is not one gay guy in this school. Well apart from Quatre and Trowa.

All of a sudden feeling very annoyed by the situation I stormed over towards the two who instantly stopped their conversation as I reached them. Nice, they must have been talking about me.

"Heero..." Quatre started hesitantly, until I stuck my hand out for him to hand me my jacket.

"Seems Maxwell doesn't know how to wear a suit or look after one." I mumbled, earning a glare from Trowa. Quatre sighed quietly, strangely it sounded more like a sigh of relief.

The current song finished and everyone on the dance floor cheered as Hilde returned to the stage wearing what she was before, however she had glittering diamonds clipped into her short hair and was holding what looked like a umbrella.

The other female dancers followed her onto the stage, each with an umbrella as well. For some reason she even looked slightly nervous. Her dark eyes, which were covered in silver glittering mascara and eye shadow, scanned the room briefly before she turned to the DJ and nodded her head for him to start.

The music suddenly started as Hilde turned her back to the crowd so she was the same as all the other female dancers. I noticed the pink dress only just about covered her ass and underneath she had small black French knickers on. Relena likes to wear underwear like that.

"**Ah huh ah huh."** The DJ murmured as he spun his disks, while Hilde tapped her foot to the music.All the female dancers placed one hand on their hip and leaned their umbrellas on their shoulders. "**Ah huh ah huh,"** He spun his disks one last time before pointing over to Hilde.

"**You have my heart."** She sang, swinging the umbrella over her head before sliding it to the floor to her right, bending over in the process to show us all her black underwear. A few guys in the crowd cheered at the sight. "**And we'll never be worlds apart." **

"**Maybe in magazines, but you'll still be my star."** She sang, twirling around to face us before holding the umbrella out in front and swinging over her head again in a circular movement. "**Baby cause in the dark, you can't see shiny cars,**" Slamming it on the floor in front of her she started to strut around it while pointing out into the crowd. "**And that's when you need me there, with you I'll always share, because!"**

"**When the sun shines, we'll shine together!"** She and the girls suddenly began a complicated dance routine with the umbrellas. Hilde's glittering diamonds shone like specks of rain in the flashing lights, that was when I noticed all the other girls had had glitter sprayed into their hair. "**Told you I'll be here forever, said I'll always be your friend, took an oath and I'm gonna stick it out 'till the end."**

Suddenly all the girls and Hilde held their umbrellas above their heads and opened them up. That's bad luck you know – not that I believe in that rubbish. "**Now that it's raining more than ever, know that we'll still have each other,"** She stood holding the umbrella over her head, staring out at the crowd. "**You can stand under my umbrella, you can stand under my umbrella," **All of them suddenly snapped their umbrellas shut and slung them over one shoulder as they began strutting around the stage to words of the music. "**Ella ella eh eh eh." **

"**Under my umbrella, ella ella eh eh eh. Under my umbrella, ella ella eh eh eh."** I watched closely as Hilde started to look around the room franticly as if she was looking for an exit to run to for some reason. "**Under my umbrella, Ella ella eh eh eh eh eh eh..."**

Suddenly a loud voice from somewhere cut in over Hilde's surprising everyone. The deep sound of the male voice boomed from somewhere unknown to everyone until someone suddenly yelled and pointed up onto the gallery landing of the hall. I felt my heart stop once I saw who it was. It was him. It was Shinigami. All the girls within the hall suddenly started to scream with excitement as they spotted the boy.

"**You become another dream to me, a fairytale fantasy."** He sang, his face hidden by his top hat which was pulled down low across his face. Running the rim of the hat between his thumb and index finger, he took a look over the edge of the landing at the crowd."**Nothing can ever compare, an image to my memory." **

He was wearing light grey suit trousers and a waist coat with a white shirt. I glanced over to Hilde who seemed stunned by the appearance of Shinigami. She had even stopped dancing and had all her attention on the boy.

"**And girl I'm asking could you be my queen, a vision on a magazine."** He slowly walked along the landing, his hand running over the banister as he stared over the edge. Behind him two male dancers followed seductively, both dressed in black suits with their shirts unbuttoned.

"**That's when I'll be there its something we both share, because!"** He called, twirling around in a circle with his braid spinning around after him. The three of them suddenly started a complicated and sexy dance routine as they made their way to the top of the stairs. Standing up the top Shinigami continued to sing.

"**When the sun shine well shine together, you know ill be here forever."** I watched as his perfect body moved perfectly with the music. Every move seemed to go with the hip hop beat. "**Although its a not a rain outside. Girl its getting' late and you can stay the night."** I could see his sexy grin from where I was standing. Wait a minute, did I just say sexy? Like I said I'm fucked up.

"**But you can dip out anytime whenever, i can call a car i aint tryna stress ya," **He groaned as he danced. Turning to Hilde he sang towards her, "**I'm looking for the one with the glass slippa', baby girl."** He suddenly pointed to her. "**You can be my cinderella ella ella eh eh eh."**

"**You can be my cinderella ella ella eh eh eh,"** He sang seductively as he continued to dance, the three of them all doing it perfectly. All the girls in the crowd were gawking up at the boy on the landing. My eyes spied Relena just off to my right. Her eyes were wide open as she watched the boy at the top of the stairs. It looked like she was half through getting some punch when Shinigami appeared as she currently had her hand half way into the bowl. "**You can be my cinderella ella ella eh eh eh, you can be my cinderella ella ella eh eh eh eh eh eh."**

"**You can run into my arms!" **He sang towards Hilde as he pretended to reach out for her and then pull her towards him.

"**...It's okay don't be alarmed,"** Hilde sang back just in time, for some reason she looked slightly dazed and confused at what was currently happening.

"**Come in to me!"** They both sang together at the top of their lungs

"**There no distance in between our love," **Hilde sang as a large smile came to her face. Her eyes looked glazed over as she gazed up at the singing boy.

"**So go on and say my name some more!"** He replied with a seductive smirk to her.

"**I'll be all you need and more!**" Hilde sang at the top of her lungs as the crowd continued to go wild.

Shinigami took in a deep breath as he gazed out at the raving crowd and grinned, "**You ready?"**

"**Because!" **There was a sudden loud bang from above the stage as a million and one silver coloured confetti sprinkled across the stage and crowd – who started to jump up and down trying to catch the stuff. I stepped back slightly so I wouldn't get covered.

"**When the sun shines we'll shine together." **Hilde sang as she danced in the 'rain' with the other female dancers. She swung her umbrella around in the fake rain before opening it up. "**Told you I'll be here forever, said I'll always be your friend, took an oath and I'm gonna stick it out til the end."**

"**But you can dip out anytime whenever, I can call a cab I aint tryna stress ya,"** Shinigami sang back with pure emotion in his voice. He twirled around in his spot and did a fancy move with his feet. "**I'm lookin for the one with glass slippa', baby girl you can be my cinderella ella ella eh eh eh,"**

Being joined by a male dancer, who grabbed her hand and spun her around to the music, Hilde replied, "**Under my umbrella ella ella eh eh eh," **

"**You can be my cinderella ella ella eh eh eh,"** Shinigami sang as he danced while unbuttoning the top few buttons of his shirt, to reveal his creamy white skin – not that I was watching him do it...

"**Under my umbrella ella ella eh eh eh eh eh eh"** Hilde wrapped her umbrella around the back of her male dancer, holding on she lent back. She threw her head back and let the sliver confetti fall down on her face. "**It's rainin'"**

"**Rainin'" **Shinigami responded as he pretended to wipe some rain off his shoulder.

"**Ooh baby its rainin'"** She sung with the biggest smile on her face.

"**Rainin'!"**

"**Baby come in to me"** She sung lower looking up towards Shinigami on the top floor who was still dancing his complicated moves with the other male dancers.

"**Oh!"**

"**Come in to me..."**

**(Relena POV)**

Oh my god. Am I dreaming? I must be dreaming, how on earth could God make such a beautiful, sexy looking boy? Well he's good looking from what I can see, that stupid hat is in the way. I can feel my heart in my chest as I am watching him dance perfectly on the top floor of Quatre's house as the song comes to a close. Suddenly the Dj started up a new song – causing the lights to flash around the room.

"**Shinigami," **The DJ murmured lowly into the microphone as all the dancers suddenly whispered the name around the room. Shinigami, so that's his name. I ran my eyes down his slim body, the suit he was currently wearing was slightly big on him but it still looked more than perfect.

"**Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah yeah, yeaah."** Shinigami's voice suddenly sounded around the room as Sally started to scream in her place next to me while Noin started to jump up and down. I wish everyone would shut up so I could listen to him sing. "**Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah yeah, yeaah." **

"**I'm in the club with my homies, tryna get a lil V-I, keep it down on the low key." **He pulled his top hat down to keep his face covered. The dancers behind him copied the movement. "**Cause you know how it feels."**

"**I said shorty she was checkin' up on me, from the game she was spittin' my ear you'd think that she knew me."** He pointed to Hilde who had started to climb the stairs towards him shaking her fat ass she as did. Jesus, she really does think she is the prettiest girl alive. I only hired her because she was the only person available. Now I wish I hadn't from the way she is currently rubbing herself up against Shinigami. "**So we decided to chill," **

"**Conversation got heavy, she had me feelin' like she's ready to blow!"** He cried as he stared down into Hilde's eyes. I silently wished that I was Hilde at that moment.

"**Watch out!"** The DJ yelled into his microphone as he spun his disks.

"**OH!"** Shinigami moaned in pleasure as the bitch ran her hands over his body before backing away slightly.

"**Watch out!"**

"**She saying come get me, come get me,"** As he sang Hilde motioned for him to come towards her with one finger. Descending the stairs he continued singing, "**So I got up and followed her to the floor,"** Hilde pulled him towards her, meshing their bodies together. I snarled, as she ran her hands over his hips. Maybe after the show I can go talk to him. I need to know who he is.

"**She said..."**

"**Baby lets go," **Hilde murmured in what she thought was a sexy voice.

"**When I told her I said, yeah shorty got down to come and get me."** The beautiful boy sang as Hilde started to dance in front of him. Twirling around she ground into him, throwing her head back onto his shoulder. She had her eyes closed, which showed the large amounts of makeup she had painted on them. That's one plus for me, I'm so beautiful I don't have to wear makeup.

"**Yeah I got so caught up I forgot she told me, Yeah. Cause if my girl knew it'd be best to hold me."** Hilde rounded him and rose to the step above him. Wrapping one leg around his body she ran her hands up his chest, lifting his shirt up slightly so we could see his perfect skin. Suddenly she jumped on his back.

"**Yeah, next thing I knew she was all up on me screaming,"** Suddenly the boy twirled Hilde round so she was straddling him from the front. She started to move her hips erotically to the music, making it look like she was dry humping him. "**Yeah, yeah yeah..."**

Hilde jumped down from her place and started to run her hands through her hair in jagged movements as Shinigami continued to sing. "**She's all up in my head now, got me thinking that it might good idea to take her with me, cause she's ready to leave." **

All the dancers mounted the stage and started to dance as the boy continued to sing. Shinigami turned his attention to the crowd. He had his gaze toward the back of the room. It seemed to stay there for a while before wondering off to other people in the crowd. Turning my attention onto what the boy could have been looking at I found Quatre standing not far off looking at the stage in complete horror. I guess he doesn't approve of this type of music, I think our little geek may prefer the more classical type. "**Now I gotta keep it real now, cause on a one-to-ten she's a certified twenty, and that just aint me, hey!"**

"**Cause I do know if I take that chance just where is it gonna lead,"** The boy sang as Hilde bent forward and slowly raised herself back up, sticking her big, ugly ass out on the way up. Shinigami grinned down at her as she did. "**But what I do know is the way she dance makes shorty alright with me."**

"**The way she getting low!"** The boy suddenly lent backwards onto the stairs as Hilde flipped back up running her hands over her body as she did. "**I'm like yeah, just work that out for me." **She spun away from him and grinned motioning him to follow her to which he complied.

"**She asked for one more dance and I'm like yeah!"** The boy smirked and followed her onto the stage to join the other dancers. "**How the hell am I supposed to leave? And I said yeah! Shorty got to come and get me."**

Him and the male dancers suddenly started to perform a very complicated looking dance routine. "**Yeah I got so caught up I forgot she told me,"** He held out his hand and Hilde twirled into his chest, the other dancers copying their moves. "**Yeah. Cause if my girl new it'd be best to hold me. Yeah yeah, yeah yeah..." **

All of them danced together as the DJ started to rap into his microphone. I watched as Shinigami and Hilde made their way back towards the stairs. They danced up them as the DJ rapped. "**Watch out! My outfit's ridiculous, in the club lookin' so conspicuous."**

"**And rowl! These women all on the prowl, if you hold the head steady I'm a milk the cow." **The male dancers stood on the stage eyeing up their female partners as they danced seductively on their own. "**Forget about the game I'm a spit the truth, I won't stop till I get 'em in they birthday suits." **Suddenly all the same time the male dancers including the good looking boy grabbed onto the dresses the girls were wearing and tugged. They ripped off in one smooth movement. What on earth?! To my disgust the girls are now only wearing their black underwear. That was not how I designed them! How dare they change my ideas! Now everyone is going to think I'm some weird lesbian!

"**So gimme the rhythm and it'll be off with they clothes, then bend over to the front and touch your toes."** All the dancers including Hilde suddenly bent over in front of their partner. Shinigami suddenly started to swing his hand behind Hilde's ass indicating something too rude for ears. "**I left the jag and I took the roles, if they aint cutting then I put 'em on foot patrol. How you like me now, when my pinky's valued over three hundred thousand."**

"**Lets drank you the one to please, Raj."** The DJ suddenly pointed to himself while Shinigami and Hilde pointed over to him as well. Like I cared what his name was anyway. "**Fill cups like double d's. Me and Shin once more and we leave 'em dead, we want a lady in the street but a freak in the bed to say,"**

"**Yeah, Shorty got down to come and get me."** Shinigami started up again as him and Hilde continued to dance their way up the stairs. I could see all the guys from school had their eyes trained on Hilde's body. To tell you the truth mine is way better than hers! "**Yeah, I got so caught up I forgot she told me."**

Sally screamed loudly next to me, annoying the crap outta me. I elbowed her causing her to yelp in pain and shut up. Thank the lord.

"**Yeah! Cause if my girl new it'd be best to hold me."** Shinigami and Hilde reached the top stairs again and danced around the gallery landing. Stopping at one particular room Hilde entered it and motioned for Shinigami to follow. "**Yeah, next thing I knew she was all up on me screaming: Yeah yeah, yeah yeah...!"** Shinigami glanced over the side of the banister and grinned. "**YEAH!"** He yelled one last time before following Hilde into the room. The song came to a stop as the lights suddenly focused on the dancers posing on the stage.

A second later a new song started while all my guests still had their eyes trained onto the door in which the two had just left the room through. On impulse I suddenly found myself crossing the room and heading to where I knew Shinigami would currently be. I needed to talk to him. I needed to ask him out. I needed to have the most gorgeous boyfriend – well to be fair Heero is just as hot but...Heero Smerro. Rushing down the corridor heading towards the dining room, I pushed open the door just as Hilde was jumping up and down in excitement.

The whole mood was suddenly cut, all of their eyes were on me. Grinning, I waved.

"Hey everybody!" I called suddenly not knowing what to say. My eyes spied the back of Shinigami and fixed onto his long braid. You know it's so long it touches his perfect ass? Suddenly remembering that everyone was waiting for me to speak I spoke up. "Erm...well done...I came to congratulate."

"Well thanks Relena." Hilde spoke up as she wiped a towel across her head. She was still dressed in her black underwear and hadn't even bothered to cover up. I raised my eyebrow at her in disgust.

"I wasn't talking to you." I snapped, causing her step back slightly. I turned my attention onto the boy who still had his back to me.

"Shinigami...Is that your name?" I asked, slowly moving towards him. He slowly turned round to see me. I felt my every nerve tingle, he was even more gorgeous close up. His violet eyes twinkled in the light as he stared at me.

"Yeah..." He answered slowly.

"My name's Relena Peacecraft, nice to meet you." I smiled my sweetest smile.I know everyone fall's for it...Well most. He just stood there staring at my hand.

"RELENA!" There was a sudden cry from the door. I twirled round to find Quatre at the door looking a little flustered. His eyes flashed madly. "Trowa...fight...You need to stop it."

A Fight. Trowa. How dare he at my party! Everyone knows not to cause a scene at my parties! No body tries to ruin my party! How dare he the stupid, selfish bastard! I bet he's done it to ruin everything! I grit my teeth in anger, nodded my head in understanding and stormed out the room. I hate Trowa Barton.

**(Heero POV)**

I followed Quatre close behind as he ran towards the dining room. I don't know what the fuck just happened. We were standing there all like normal people. Trowa and Quatre were whispering stuff to each other when suddenly Trowa launched himself at some guy walking past. I don't know what was said, but I think the boy must have made some comment about the two. Wufei in the meantime had decided to go crazy and jump into the fight. He really does love to kick ass. Me in the meanwhile stood there watching, I like to laugh at other peoples stupidity. However if someone hits me, they will be down on the floor in one second flat.

We reached the dining room and Quatre burst in screaming Relena's name. Everything happened so fast. Relena was out the door in one second flat with Quatre following closely behind. However the thing that made my world stop was Shinigami's eyes landing on me. You know I don't think I have ever seen anything so beautiful in my whole life. The smile that came to his lips is the most beautiful thing in the whole world. I found myself moving my head with the door as it closed, I wanted to see every last bit of that smile before the door shut. The door clicked closed and everything seemed to crash down on me as I realised I've got a crush on Shingami. I've got a crush on a guy. Oh fuck, oh shit, I hate everything! I'm a freak! Zechs and Relena have turned me into a freak!

I suddenly felt a rush of anger run through me and, turning, I punched the nearest wall. Feeling the pain rip through my hand I grit my teeth as I slowly pulled my hand from the hole I had made in the wall. I don't understand all of this, why am I feeling this way? Why can't I stop it? How has it all come to this? Do I actually like guys or do I just like Shinigami? Have I ever said I'm fucked up? I am so fucked up!

**TBC...**


	21. Let's get this Party started

Hey everyone, just so you know I haven't given up on this. I'm just getting my other story on the roll, if you want another read its called 'Footprints of an Assassin'. Anyway read and review! :) xxxxxxxx

**Chapter 21**

**Let's get this Party Started**

**(Heero POV)**

"Heero Yuy!" There was a loud yell from the front of the class snapping me out of my thoughts over my disaterous life. My eyes snapped up to see my maths teacher Mr Wallace glaring at me angerly. "Would you care to join in with my lesson today Yuy, you've been sat there for the whole time not listening or doing the work."

I heard a little snigger leave Wu Fei's mouth to my left. I gave Mr Wallace the best glare I could muster, "I _have_ been listening."

"Yeah right!" The old man exclaimed, rolling his dark grey eyes. "I've asked you two questions so far, and both you've completely ignored me!"

"Sorry Sir." I murmured noticing everyone had turned to look at me. At the front in the far corner near the window, I noticed Duo hadn't bothered to turn around. In fact its seemed like he'd been avoiding me all day. He was gone before I even got dressed this morning, and I swear I saw him running away from me earlier. "I will start paying more attention."

"Good. Now stop daydreaming and listen. You teenagers always daydream when you fall in love." A loud laugh escaped Wu Fei's lips, I turned to glare at him to shut up. Une, one of Relena's friends, raised her eyebrows up at me guestioningly.

"I'm not in love Mr Wallace." I snapped feeling my anger boil. I do not like being taken the mick out of.

"Sure." The teacher answered mockingly, I've always hated Mr Wallace, he seems to get pleasure out of taking the mick out of someone in his class. Looks like today he's chosen me. The old man's grey eyes lay on me. "I can see the look in your eyes, you're in love or at least inflaturated with someone."

"I'm not!" I could feel the anger bubbling up inside me. How dare he try and assume things about my life! Everyone in the room started to chatter to themselves quietly about my social life which made me seethe even more.

"Sure whatever you say Heero." Mr Wallace smirked before turning back to the board to teach. I could feel my insides burning. I wanted to jump and hit the man in the face and yell at the top of my lungs that I'm not in love with anyone.

The bell rang out through the classroom and I felt like it was a god send. I gathered my things up quickly and rushed out the classroom trying to ignore the stares and the silent chatter. Stopping at my locker, I started to put my maths books inside when Trowa stopped at my side.

"Heero, you OK?" That was a stupid question to ask. He knows I don't like attention being on me.

"What do you think."

"Is there something I should know about?" The tall boy asked in a quiet voice. I grit my teeth and turned to him.

"I'm not in love with anyone." I growled, he raised his eyebrow at my reaction to his question. No I wasn't in love but somehow for some reason I've become infacturate with a boy I don't even know. For god's sake I'm not even gay. But then again I must be, I've had sex with Zechs and now I'm obsessed with Shinigami. Wait a minute. I love Relena. I know I do...This precised thought made me scowl and slam my locker door to a crashing close.

"What's crawled up your arse today Yuy?" WuFei commented as he came to a stop next to me. I just gave him a glare in return. Trowa rolled his eyes before leading the way onto the field. Good, I need to go somewhere where I can cool down. By the time we made it to our tree I'd calmed down enough to realise my tensed fists.

"You calm now Heero?" Trowa asked in a smooth voice as he lent back on the grass, spreading his long body on the floor.

"Sorry, I'm just a bit distracted today." I murmured. A bit! That was the understatement of the century! Trowa just gave me a small smile in return.

"I've been meaning to ask you both all day." He said, "me and Quatre are heading out to town on Friday and I was wondering if you'd like to come."

Wu Fei was first to speak up "Sounds like a good plan."

"Sure." I murmured weakly, maybe I could drown my sorrows in the corner of one of the Sanc's nightclubs while being ignored by lover boys and Mr. Injustice.

"Well actually, Heero, I was wondering if you could see if Duo wanted to come." Trowa said, causing me to grit my teeth. The last thing I wanted was the choir geek there reminding me of my very bad situation. "Please Heero, it would make Quatre feel better."

"Then why don't you ask him yourself?" I felt Trowa's gaze glaring at me.

"Hey, this could be a chance to get in with Maxwell. You know what drunk guys are like." WuFei smirked which seemed to horrify Trowa.

"I wasn't planning it so Heero would get in with Duo!" He yelled "I wanted him to come because Quatre says he's a nice guy to have around!"

"You and your little boyfriend have become quiet cosy lately haven't you" I murmured

"So what." Trowa bite out, I could hear the frustration in his voice. "Quatre happens to be one of the nicest people I've ever met. He makes me happy Heero."

"Hn."

"I can't believe the way you're acting." Trowa snapped. "And I can't believe I'm still sat here, being your friend while you're using someone as nice as Duo just win Relena back."

"I don't really care about your opinion on my personal life Barton." I glared, but instantly regretted what I said. Trowa had been my best friend since primary school. We always did things together, and the truth was his opinions did matter...a lot. My brown haired friend stood from the floor, his green eyes glaring daggers at me.

"I want nothing more to do with your affairs with Relena Peacecraft and I will never support what you are doing to Duo. What you're doing is wrong, don't you agree Chang?" Trowa turned to Wu Fei who sat silent and I could tell the Chinese boy silently agreed with Trowa. He didn't need to voice his opinion out loud. I instantly felt angered. How could they not support me through my misfortune. I need Relena back. I need her to be by my side. I'm not right without her, I think stupid things about stupid people.

"Fine. If that's the way you feel." I snapped iriable. Trowa just stood there and shook his head.

"You can be a really arsehole at time's Heero." With that he stormed away back to school, probably to go sit with Quatre and Choir Geek in the music room. I settled back on the grass, aiming to ignore Wu Fei for the rest of lunch, however that's when I noticed he'd gotten up to follow Trowa. I grit my teeth. Why did I have to fuck everything up?

**(Duo POV)**

You know I don't think I've ever been out in the North Sanc before, which is why for some reason I couldn't refuse Trowa's offer of a night on the town. However I instantly regretted it after I found out Heero and Wu Fei were going as well. I inwardly cringed , remembering what i'd said to Heero last week about not being allowed out. Anyway, Quatre ordered me to his house to find me some of his clothes to wear, apparently we are going to a more 'upper' market club. This is how I came to my current situation of spending nearly 2 hours trying on clothes. It's a bit annoying that Q is about 2 inches shorter than me, but it's a good job he has so many sisters who have boyfriend's. I smiled at myself in Quatre's mirror, for once I looked good. I was wearing a pair of black tight jeans that almost looked leather and Q dug out one of his deep blue silk shirts and I actually looked good – until I put my hat and glasses on.

Quatre walked out his en suite and stopped in his tracks, his sea blue eyes looking me up and down "Duo you look..."

"Gorgeous, hot, sexy?" I teased chucking my ugly hat onto his bed next to my large glasses. "The outfit doesn't really go well with my hat though." Q scowled at the mention of the ugly thing.

"Shouldn't Trowa be here soon, I..."

"I'm here now." Oh...Fuck...Motherofgod. I spun round to the door to see Trowa leaning against the door frame staring at me, his deep green eyes making me shake. I reached out and protective grabbed the end of the braid, he was gonna tell the whole school and my whole life would be ruined.

"It's OK Duo he knows already." Quatre's voice floated to my ears.

"WHAT!" I screamed twirling round to Q in shock and horror. "Oh fucking I think I've just died and been sent to hell."

Trowa let out a low sexy laugh from the door. "Don't worry I wont tell anyone." The tall boy said making his way into the bedroom and perching himself on the side of Quatre's bed. Grabbing my hat from the middle he stared at the object as if it were about to come alive and eat him. Aw come on it's not that bad, it's helped me through my toughest times. "You can trust me Duo, I'm not a cruel Bastard."

I was hesitant for a moment. I wanted to trust him, I really did, but I've learnt many times in my life that trusting people is a big no no. I settled with just nodding at him, that wasn't really an 'Ok' or a 'No'. I held my hand out and he promptly gave my ugly hat back. Q in the meantime had finished getting ready and was standing at his door waiting to go. He was dressed like an Arabian god. He looked perfect in his light blue buttoned up shirt and deep blue jeans. I saw Trowa smile out the corner of my eye. Shoving the ugly hat on my head and placing my glasses on I gave Q a smile.

"Let's get this party started."

**TBC...**


	22. Confessions

**Chapter 22**

**Confessions**

**(Trowa POV)**

Shell Street on a Friday night was always busy. It's the main clubbing/bar street in the North Sanc and anyone who's anyone can be found down here. It's the place you could find any type of bar, restaurant or club you wanted to suit your mood. It'd always been branded as 'The 24 hour party', since as one place shut another opened. We slowly made our way down the busy street, heading towards Sanc's best nightclub, 'The Ocean', which was lit up about 100 yards down the road from us with deep blue neon lights. It's popularity stems from it's 5 large clubbing rooms, and the back which leads out onto the beach, where there is another Dj. That gave you the chance to nip into the sea if you got too hot, or to calm down from the mad raves inside. To be fair I thought our whole school would be in there tonight, no wonder he felt nervous.

Flashing our tickets at the bouncer we made our way in. I could see Duo was nervous, he was unconsciously fiddling with the end of his deep blue fitted shirt. To be fair I think our whole school will be in here tonight, no wonder he feels nervous. Reaching out I grabbed Quatre's hand behind me and led the two towards the large bar in the front room. The front room was the smallest of the 5, it held the oceanic theme and is decorated with blues and silver.

"What you having?" I yelled at the two, both of them looking a bit lost as their wondering eyes tried to take everything in.

"Double JD and coke." Duo called back.

"What you having Trowa?" Quatre asked in a small voice, his grip on my hand was quiet tight.

"Probably Vodka redbull,"

"I'll have the same." I smiled at him before turning to take our orders. "Where's WuFei and Heero?"

"They'll be here in a bit, they always go to the gym on Fridays before we go out." I informed as the bartender went to make our drinks. Quatre nodded his head in understanding as his blue eyes flickered around him. I gazed at him, taking in his perfect form Quatre always looked perfect. A few minutes later the bartender came back with our drinks.

"Shall we find somewhere to sit?" The two boys nodded, so we made our way through the large raving crowds to the calm 'boudoir' room. I liked this room the most. It takes on a Moulin Rouge theme and has deep red couches with loads of cushions. It was the place everyone came to relax. We took our seats in the back corner of the room.

"How did you know?" Duo suddenly spoke up across the table. His beautiful violet eyes were fixed onto me questioningly. "How did you know I was Shinigami? Did you guess?"

"No, I..." I stopped in my tracks. If I said I found out from Quatre the two would probably fall out. I would never want to cause a drift between the two. I quickly racked my brain trying to find a suitable reason when Quatre spoke.

"He found out from me Duo." he said sadly, turning to give me a small smile as a thanks for trying not to drop him in it – still I felt bad.

"I heard him mutter your name at Underworld." I told him. Duo nodded his head in understanding, and looking slightly relieved that I hadn't recognized him. I could still see the scared look in his eyes from before. No way in hell would I tell anyone. I'm not a cold bastard who likes to wreck peoples lives. "I won't tell anyone Duo, I promise."

He stared at me for a moment as if contemplating over whether to believe me or not. I could understand however, I was holding the whole of his life in my hands. To him, I was just a stupid popular prick who doesn't care about others, it wouldn't effect me if I went and told everyone at school his secret. But I'm not a life wrecker and to be honest I think half of South Sanc would hate me if Duo had to pull his show from Underworld.

"Hey there's WuFei and Heero!" Quatre called as the two said boys wondered into the 'Boudoir' room. I nodded at them as they made their way over, my eyes stopping to glare at Yuy for a second. I hope he's taken into account my words from the other day. I will not stand back and watch him use Duo. I could feel his deep blue eyes glaring at me as he sat down next to Duo and settled his vodka and diet coke on the table in front. Turning to Duo to say 'Hi' I saw his eyes slightly widen as he took in what Duo was wearing. I smiled in satisfaction. WuFei in the meantime had settled next to me looking slightly huffy.

"How's the Wife to be WuFei?" I mocked, the other boy scowled at my use of words.

"Don't even get me started."

"Wife to be?" Quatre exclaimed, leaning forwards to see WuFei. "You're getting married WuFei?"

"I hope not!" My Chinese friend yelled. "The inconsiderate bitch told me that I'm not allowed to go to the gym anymore! How pathetic is that? She said she likes boys with a bit more meat on them." I had to laugh at that, Yuy across from me smirked.

"That's a bit unfair," Quatre frowned.

"You have know idea." WuFei murmured, taking a large sip of his drink. Looking up I could see Duo grinning in his seat in obvious amusement. We stayed in the 'Boudoir' room for another few rounds, chatter striking up here and there. However it seemed like me and Quatre had to do most of the work. Duo sat slumped in his seat trying to avoid every conversation, Heero sat in a grump glaring at us and WuFei was...well just being WuFei. He disappeared by 11pm after seeing Sally entering the room on the far left, that left the four of us at the table. I watched as Duo slowly sat down with his 7th drink, he looked fine, but I could see the drunken gleam in his eyes. He grinned at me as he noticed me staring.

"So Q, you gonna come and dance?" He asked suddenly his voice sounding completely different – it was more confident and up beat. "You won't mind will you Tro?" He winked at me. Oh god... His grin got even larger as he rose from his seat again, grabbing his drink and holding his hand out to Quatre. Quatre threw me a worried glance before following his friend from the 'Boudoir' room into the 'Urban' room. Heero instantly rose from his seat.

"Where do you think you're going?" I snapped, glaring up at the boy. He ignored me as he turned go to the bar. Raging I jumped from my seat and followed him.

"You're like this because you know what you're doing wrong." I yelled at him. "Call the bet off with Relena." He turned to me with his dark blue eyes wide.

"Are you being serious?" he snapped angrily. "I need her Trowa."

"You don't need her." I snarled. I never liked Relena, she was always too stuck up her own ass to care about anyone else except herself. When the two were going out he'd do anything for her like she was the queen of the fucking Sanc. She never appreciated what he did for her. No wonder Yuy slept with Zechs.

"I do." he grounded out as he called the waiter over and ordered us both another drink.

"Why?" I asked "Why do you need her?" He glanced at me from the corner of his eye. I could see him chewing on the inside of his bottom lip as if he had to consider his answer.

"I..." He started, before shaking his head and turning his back to me.

"You what?" I questioned, grabbing hold of his toned shoulder and twirling him back to face me. He looked at me in slight surprise that I was being so up front – I'm just so sick of his shit all the time. "Tell me what's on your mind Heero, I'm your friend and I'm here to help god damn it. Stop keeping everything locked up!"

I could see the guilt in his eyes, he knew he was wrong for what he was doing. "My mind's so fucked up Tro." I grabbed our drinks from the barman and pulled Heero away from the group of rowdy teenagers next to us. Grabbing his drink from my hands he took a large sip. It was a long time before he spoke, and I never would have expected what left his mouth.

"I...I think I'm attracted to Shinigami." He said, a look of disgust on his face. I felt my heart beat faster. Oh Jesus Christ, this can not be happening. "I don't know why, I don't know how, it just happened. I can't get him out of my head Trowa. I'm so fucked up. I'm a straight guy who loves Relena, but I can't stop thinking about a guy I've only seen twice!"

"Heero..."

"I'm not gay Trowa." The look on his face told me that he was trying to be confident about the fact "Maybe there's some other reason for it. Maybe I want to be his friend or..." He shook his head and downed some of his drink. "I don't know what to do."

"Maybe some fresh air would help?" I offered. Heero nodded and followed me out of the club to the beach. We both sat down on the white sand outside in silence. Heero pulled his knees to his chest and began to move his glass, watching his drink swirl around inside.

"When did you start feeling like this?" I asked quietly as I stared out at the darkened sea. Some people had already taken a dive in and were having a splashing war.

"About Wednesday after Relena's party." He told, I could see his grip on his glass tighten. He didn't want to be admitting things like this.

"Maybe you just like the way he looks. You don't have to be gay to like the way some guy looks." I offered, the guy needed some sort of an explanation. That was the same one I used the first time I felt attracted to a boy and was in major denial. "Have you felt...well physically attracted to him?"

He was silent for a moment, before whispering, "I don't know..."

I sighed, "When I was trying to figure out my sexual preference," I started turning to look out at the ocean again. "I was so confused you remember my first boyfriend don't you?" Heero snarled next to me. Yeah, the guy was a complete and utter arsehole, but I didn't notice at the time – hell, I was in love. "Well before that I felt like my whole life was fucked up just because I thought I liked this guy." Turning to him I smiled. "You have to try and search your soul. It took me nearly 3 years to finally come and, over that period I did a lot of thinking about my life and what would make me happy." He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.

"I'm not gay Trowa. I know I'm not." He stated before looking over to a group of guys. "I know I can look at guys and not fancy them."

"Heero, I can look at a group of guys and not fancy them. That doesn't mean I don't like men."

"Why aren't you trying to help me." The other boy almost whined, he was looking at me desperately – wanting me to tell him that it was OK and that he wasn't feeling the way he was. "I don't want to be gay Trowa."

"So you're saying there's a possibility?"

"NO!" he yelled, I could see his anger burning in his eyes "I'm not and I will never be."

"But you slept with Zechs and now you like Shinigami." That must have hit a sore spot because his fist smashed hard into the sand. Shaking my head I turned away.

"What do you want Heero?"

Frowning he turned to me, "What?"

"What do you want?" I asked more firmly turning to stare at him square in the eyes, he shifted uncomfortably. "I want to know what you want. Not what everyone else wants, what you want."

"I don't know." He murmured staring down at the white sand as if it would give him all the answers to his questions. "Trowa...I can't be gay, I'm the captain of the football team, the most popular guy in school..."

"I'm not asking you what other people want you to be or do." I stated, my hands turning into fists. The whole school system is so fucked up. "I'm asking you what do you want?"

"What I want..." he muttered, quietly a thoughtful look on his face, "I want Relena back."

"Do you want Relena back for real or do you want her back to hide from everything you're feeling?"

"I..." He started hesitantly. "I want her back for her." I sighed.

"Then be with Relena if it's that's what you think will make you happy."

"...She does..." He turned to me, "She does make me happy Trowa." However, he didn't sound or look too convinced.

Xxx

**(WuFei POV) **

Yuy and Barton have wondered off somewhere leaving me to find myself stuck with Maxwell and Winner until they come back. I wouldn't have minded that much, until I found out Maxwell was pissed outta his face. We've been standing here for the last half hour talking to the club's podium dancers. Well Maxwell has, I never knew he could be such a fucking flirt. He still hasn't noticed that I'm standing right behind him. Turning I found Quatre staring at the back of Duo's head as he told the girls how much he liked their dance routines.

"Jesus Maxwell!" I cried, causing him to whip round. Once spotting me his grin got even bigger if possible.

"What's up WuFeina?" he called, "Finally lost mother Sally have ya?" I saw Quatre bite his bottom lip to stop the laughter from bubbling over. I felt myself seethe in my spot.

"Maxwell..." I snarled as Duo turned back to the dancers.

"Hey ladies, Wuffles is a great dancer, he just told me how he'd love to dance with all of you." The girls on the stage giggled as one reached out for my arm pulling me up onto the stage. _What the fuck! Get off me!_

"Get off me woman!" I voiced as I watched Quatre being reluctantly pulled onto the stage. Oh Shit. Duo was laughing like a manic, and looked slightly scary. A new song started up with a slow erotic beat, the girls around us began to dance prerogatively. My eyes widened at the sight as I backed away to the edge of the podium, and tried to find my escape. Duo in the meanwhile had moved to the centre of the dancing girls to join in. Oh fuck, someone please help me out of this mess! Suddenly I felt someone grab my waist from behind and the next thing I knew I was getting lifted off the stage. Feeling pissed off I twirled round to face my 'savor'. How dare someone treat me like a weakling woman and think I need saving! However, once seeing who it was I stopped and dropped my head - I think I might be blushing. Fuck.

I could hear his deep laughter before Zechs lifted my chin so he could look at my face. I could feel his body heat radiating on my skin. He smiled at me as he said, "Looked like you needed some help up there." Feeling my anger rise I raised my hand to punch the guy in the face, but he caught it as I swung his way. Suddenly I felt weak, he was double my size and about 5 inches taller than me. Not giving in I swung for him using my other hand, but he caught that as well. He held my hands up and in his tight grasp.

"Awwww, and I thought I was going to get a thank you." He grinned, making me seethe even more. How dare he mock my male pride and honor! I roughly pulled my hands from his grasp, glaring at him, wishing he would spontaneously combust on the spot.

"Piss of Zechs before I do you some real damage." I snarled, trying to muster all my anger.

"Ah, come on WuFei." His smile turned suggestive as he grabbed on to my waist pulling me closer, I could feel my cheeks heating up again, what the fuck is wrong with me?! His hands began to massage my skin through my loose clothes. "Don't I get some sort of reward?" I found my eyes wondering onto his perfectly formed lips as I felt our bodies mesh together. "I mean, I did just save your sweet ass." My eyes widened as I felt his hand run over my ass. He smirked.

"I...I...I." I foolishly stumbled with my words, but I couldn't think. Damn Zechs!

"Get. Off. Of. Him." I shivered at the dark voice from behind, and I knew it was Yuy. Zechs' grip got tighter on my ass as his ice blue eyes wondered onto Yuy behind me. His smirk remained

"Don't get you're french knickers in a twist Yuy." He spoke, before looking down at me. "I just thought I'd get to know your friends a bit better." I heard Yuy growl from behind.

"I swear Zechs, if you don't get off him now I will beat you to death." Zechs' eyes narrowed, his white blond hair falling from behind one of his ears.

"You wish." He murmured before bending down to whisper in my ear, I could feel his hot breath on my neck. I shivered. "I'll see you around my little dragon," he whispered. I felt his tongue suddenly caress my ear lobe before he was gone. I was left standing wide eyed, staring after him as he disappeared into the large crowd of the 'Urban' room. The next thing I knew Yuy had twirled me round to face him.

"You OK WuFei?" I nodded, feeling slightly dumbfound as my hand reached up to wipe the wetness away from my ear. Yuy's eyes narrowed glaring at me in a weird sort of way. "I swear I will kill him if he comes near you again." I nodded again, I still couldn't find the words to speak. What is wrong with me?! Suddenly not in the mood to be out anymore I stormed away, intending to go home. I'd had enough gay vibes for the night.

Xxx

**(Heero POV)**

I was not in a good mood to start with, and just coming out tonight to have Trowa question me as if he was some psychologist and I was his patient, WuFei get hit on by Zechs and Duo get absolutely wasted just made me want to scream with frustration. Sat against a bar in one of the many rooms of 'The Ocean', I growled at anyone who tried to talk to me. I was not in the mood for any witty banter about nothing important. It was a few minutes to 2am before I felt Trowa tap me on the shoulder. Glancing at him I found he had his arm wrapped around Quatre who was currently too drunk to hold himself up. He was probably trying to keep up with Duo, who was currently talking to two of the podium dancers. I watched as they gave him a kiss on the cheek before he stumbled over to us.

"Time to go." Trowa informed. I nodded my head as Duo bashed into one of the bar stools and nearly fell over, though I steadied him as he stumbled. He looked up at me his eyes gleaming. He was drunk.

"Yo Ro." he slurred, "You gunna dance with me now?"

"No, we're going home." I answered automatically, pulling him reluctantly toward the door.

Duo whined, "but I don't want to go just yet!" I rolled my eyes as I dragged him out the club. Hailing down a taxi I pushed Duo in before nodding a goodbye to Trowa and Quatre as they wondered off to get their own. Slipping inside I told the driver to go to the Maxwell Church. I sighed in my seat and closed my eyes thanking god that we'd left the club. Next to me Maxwell began to hum quietly before he turned to me with his eyes wide. He stared for a moment before his head lulled back and he passed out in his seat. Fucking drunks. By the time we'd gotten back to the Maxwell Church I was pissed, now I had to carry the fucker to his room. I gave the taxi man his money before hauling Maxwell's ass out of the car. He was slightly heavier than I thought he'd be. Throwing one arm around my shoulders I dragged him across the large front garden of the church and round the back towards the bunk house. About halfway there I felt him stir, I stopped and glared at him as he began to come around.

"Urhhh...If I like a you and you like a me..." (1) He began to sing from his slumped place against me before his head turned drunkly towards me, his violet eyes glazed over. A drunken grin came to his face. "Yo...Heero..." He curled his finger indicating me to come nearer. I frowned but moved toward him."Closer." He ordered, forcing me to come within an inch of his face.

"What?" I asked in annoyance. He opened his mouth to talk but no words came out. Hesitantly he brought his hand up and swiped my hair from my eyes, and then a smile came to his face. I frowned.

"I've always loved your eyes Heero." The words fell from his lips before his head lulled back once again and he passed out. I frowned. Duo loves my eyes...Fuck Trowa, maybe I do have a chance with his bet.

**TBC...**

**(1)** – This song is from one of my favourite movies 'The man with two brains' – if you haven't seen it, you're missing out it's hilarious! :P


	23. Sexual Eruption

**A/N- **Hey everyone sorry for the long delay, here's the next chap for you! The song used is Sexual Eruption by Snoop Dogg and Robyn. Let me know what you think!

**Chapter 23**

**Sexual Eruption**

(Heero POV)

Last night was fucked up to say the least. I feel like I've been run over by a train and I didn't even drink that much. I dreamt about him again last night, but I don't know if it was because of the conversation with Trowa or because I'm infatuated with him. I hope it's the first. I just don't think a guy like myself should like guys in the first place. The football captain is supposed to be straight and have loads of girls, but I find myself dreaming about a guy. I growled lowly as I sat on my cranky old bed at the Maxwell church. Duo had disappeared and even Sister Helen said she didn't know where he'd gone. She said normally he goes over to Quatre's on a Saturday night, sighing I lent back and stared up at the crusting ceiling, willing myself to forget my fucked up thoughts. Why has everything gone so wrong? I've been good to everyone in my life, so God why are you punishing me? Oh Christ... why am I talking to someone I don't believe in? I need to get this bet over and done with before my life gets even more fucked up. I need Relena back just for my sanity – somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that was the wrong reason for wanting her back.

Rolling over I stared at the wall as I remembered Duo's words last night. He said he loved my eyes, does that mean he likes me? Do I actually have a chance at pulling Maxwell? Is Maxwell even gay? Perhaps he meant he liked my eyes, loads of people have said that to me... but all of them have been girls. This is all so confusing! Why did I have to complicate my life by sleeping with Zechs? Suddenly my phone ringing snapped me out of my thoughts. Rolling over I grabbed it from my bedside table and glanced at the caller I.D. Trowa. Sighing in annoyance, I answered the phone.

"Yuy here."

"Hey, how are you feeling today?" Trowa's deep voice floated into my ears. I knew what he was talking about, and I felt like shit, but I wouldn't tell him that. "I take the no answer as bad then."

"Trowa, I really don't want to talk about this." I murmured, my hand rubbing my forehead. "I can't do this anymore, I can't think, I can't sleep, it just plagues me everywhere I go."

"So you dream about him then." I cringed – fuckshitbolocks.

"No! I..." I dropped my head in shame.

"Heero?" Trowa's voice was calm and collected, "Heero I really want to help you."

"I don't need any help." I snapped irritably, "I'm fine, there is nothing wrong!"

"That's not what I think, and you and I both know everything isn't fine." I hate him, I hate Trowa so much. I grit my teeth in anger as I glared at the opposite wall, thinking of some way out of this situation. I need to know that I don't like guys... and there is only one way I can prove that point to myself.

"There is one way you can help me." I spoke slowly, not sure if what I was going to do was going to be the right path to take.

"What?"

"Come to Underworld with me tonight."

"Heero it's 10pm..."

"I know but if we hurry we'll still get to see his show..." I stopped as I closed my eyes, "I need to know if I'm attracted to him Trowa." The other boy was silent as he thought over my request.

Finally he answered, "Fine, meet me outside in 30 minutes."

"Ok." We both hung up and I found myself running around like a lunatic trying to find some clothes which would be suitable to wear out. Shoving on my black tank top I pulled my blue shirt over the top and my jeans. Taking a look in the mirror before I left I felt satisfied with my appearance. I mentally slapped myself. Why should it matter what I looked like? I was going to a club to see if the rest of my life is doomed or not. Rushing to my car I drove as fast as I could to Underworld, and stood waiting for 10 minutes before Trowa turned up in his green army trousers and white top. He stopped in front of me before glancing at the club and it's flashing lights. I could feel my heart beating in my chest. I really did not want to go in there but I knew I had to.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked, looking slightly nervous himself. I nodded my head firmly.

"This is the only way I will know if I'm attracted to him." I murmured, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." He replied before we both made our way past the bouncer. As stupid as we were we didn't know it was a theme night, and tonight's theme was 'Bed'. I feel like I want to scream and shout, it feels like everything is against me. We could hear the mad crowds yelling as we walked down the long corridor into the club. Shinigami's show was about to start.

_Hey sista, go sista, soul sista, flow sista  
Hey sista, go sista, soul sista, go sista _

We both entered the club and I think both our mouths dropped. The place had been decorated for the theme in reds, purples and pinks, while the tables on the ground floor had been replaced with beds. The lights around the room were trying to reflect a candle lit theme, to heighten the sexual experience. I turned to Trowa who's green eyes were wide. He glanced at me before nodding over towards the bar. I shook my head, I wasn't here to drink. Grabbing his arm I pulled him down the stairs and onto the ground floor as many of the girls on the stage demounted. A few danced round us as we made our way towards a bed.

"Heero I'm not so sure about this..."

"Trowa you said you would help me." I reminded and heard him sigh as I pulled him down on the bed with me.

_He met Marmalade down in old Moulin Rouge  
Struttin' her stuff on the street  
__She said, "Hello, hey Jo, you wanna give it a go?" Oh! uh huh _

_Giuchie, Giuchie, ya ya dada (Hey hey hey)  
Giuchie, Giuchie, ya ya here (here)  
Mocha Chocalata ya ya (oh yea)  
Creole lady Marmalade!_

Looking up onto the stage I tried to see if I knew any of the dancers from Relena's Welcome Party. My eyes spied the Dj from the other night, while Hilde was no where to be seen. The girls were all currently dancing in small black French knickers and corsets. If I weren't so nervous about tonight, I bet I'd be turned on at the sight. Trowa was shifting in his seat next to me and I found myself wondering if he'd been this nervous last time we came. However, all I could remember was Shinigami's sexy pole dancing.

_He sat in her boudoir while she freshened up  
Boy drank all that Magnolia wine  
All her black satin sheets, suede's, dark greens  
Giuchie, Giuchie, ya ya dada (da-da-da)  
Giuchie, Giuchie, ya ya here (here ohooh yea yeah)  
Mocha Choca lata ya ya (yea)  
Creole lady Marmalade_

I frowned at my friend as I noticed he definitely didn't look comfortable.

"You know Trowa if you didn't want to come you could have just said." I murmured.

"No it's not that..." He replied quickly but then stopped in his tracks, making me more suspicious than I all ready was. There's something seriously wrong here. Perhaps something happened between him an Quatre last night. Behind me up on stage some girl had started to rap along to the song. Trowa bowed his head to avoid my gaze.

"Did something happen between you and Quatre?" I asked while his eyebrows raised at the comment.

"No...I..." He started, "I just feel a bit guilty being here, you know..." He was lying I could tell, Trowa could never look you in the eye when he was telling you a lie. Deciding to drop the subject I turned back to face the stage just as a well known dancer began to sing her heart out. Hilde appeared from the back of the stage, dressed in a red corset and french knickers. The guys in the crowd cheered at her appearance.

_Touch of her skin feeling silky smooth  
color of cafe au lait alright  
Made the savage beast inside roar until he cried,  
More-more-more!_

I waited in silence for the song to finish and for Shinigami's show to start since I decided to ignore Trowa. A few minutes later the song finished and I felt my heart beat faster. A smooth, sexual beat started up as the dancers placed themselves in a circle in the middle of the stage. Hilde stood off to the left side of the stage, on a podium much higher than everyone else. She watched proudly over them as she began to murmur "Sexual Eruption...Sexual Eruption..." A white lights surged around the room, highlighting everyone's awaiting expressions.

Suddenly the lights centred on the dancers as they collapsed revealing Shinigami standing in the middle with his back to the crowd, his hands on either shoulder of the two girls standing next to him. He was dressed in very tight leather trousers which showed everything and a half buttoned up dark grey shirt which was falling low on one shoulder. His thick, neat braid lay perfectly down the middle of his back and swayed slightly as he moved his hips to the beat of the music.

"I'm gonna take my time," He sung, his voice sounding like a god. "She gon get hers before I."

He ran his index finger under the two girls chins, and they swooned at his touch. I instantly felt jealous and growled lowly, stop thinking like this Yuy, please!

"I'm gonna take it slow woah woahh," he swayed his perfect hips to the song, my eyes glued to his tight ass. "I'm not gonna rush the stroke, So she can get a..."

"Sexual Eruption," Hilde sang as she ran her hands up her slim toned body. Why is it I don't find myself more drawn to Hilde? Why do I only like Shinigami? I tried to watch the way she was erotically running her hands over her beautiful body but I found my eyes wondering back over to Shinigami as the surrounding female dancers copied Hilde's movements.

"You gotta get me get to the top, Sexual Eruption, just as long its only sexual, sexual seduction, keep it up don't get to rough. Sexual Eruption baby!"

The Dj from Relena's party suddenly started to spin his disks as all the dancers including Shinigami dismounted the stage. Hilde stayed to the left of the stage on her podium while two male dancers joined her. The dancers followed Shinigami around the ground floor of the large club, all doing a professional dance routine within the surging deep purple lights. I bit my bottom lip as I watched the way his body moved, and willed myself not to respond to it. I glanced out the corner of my eye to find Trowa looking even more nervous than before. Maybe he likes Shinigami as well, but just won't admit it to me. The DJ began to rap.

_I was all in the club sippin some Hen  
Smokin on a blunt of dro  
When a peep this lil hoe out  
I was all in the bar when driftaa  
Shorty damn came over then she hit the floor now  
See through dress long hair light brown eyes  
Lookin' like Ms. Bo Peep_

"Peep," Shinigami murmured as he sauntered around the room, his large violet eyes taking in everyone's faces within the darkened room and I found myself wishing he would look at me, for me to have all his attention like at Relena's party for just two seconds. I could feel my hands balling into fists in anger. What is happening to me? What happened to my adoration of women? I still like Relena, don't I? Do I even like Shinigami the same way I like Relena? The dancers split then, all going in different directions, some jumping onto the nearest beds with the customers. Shinigami however continued to saunter round as the DJ rapped.

_And a nigga know if I take her home with them wide ass hips  
Your damn right I'm gon beat  
So I uhh approached the chick with the real pretty face  
Big ass booty and a little big waist  
I whispered in her ear lil mama what you drink_

Closing in on a small girl sitting on one of the beds he bent down and whispered the words to the song in her ear. His eyes darted around the room at everyone and that's when it happened, he noticed me. I didn't know if I was scared shitless of the fact that I could feel myself getting turned on just from his gaze, or the fact that I didn't think I could contain myself if he came near me. I mentally slapped myself. Stop it Yuy, think about anything but him please! I watched in some sort of horror as he danced his way over, his perfect body moving in time with the erotic beat of the song. He stopped right in front of me and grinned his psychotic mental grin which just turned me on even more.

_I know you a freak but you know I aint gonna say shit  
See my game is outrageous I got her to the crib  
And exchanged some fk faces  
But it wasn't no use for me to rush to bust one cuz I wanted her to have an eruption_

"Sexual Eruption," Hilde sung again from her place overlooking everyone. The men she had been dancing with had lifted her up in the air. Shinigami grabbed one of the nearby dancers and pulled her close. I watched in jealously as he ran his hands down her uncovered thigh before spinning her away. "You gotta get me get to the top, Sexual Eruption, just as long its only sexual, sexual seduction, keep it up don't get to rough..."

He stopped in front of me with a grin on his face, and truth to be told I didn't think I'd ever seen someone so erotic in my whole life. His long braided hair hung over one slightly naked shoulder, where he was showing off a bit of his chest. He had a devilish look in his eyes.

"Sexual Eruption!" Hilde sung one last time before I was pushed back on the bed I was sitting on. I heard Trowa gasp to my right as he jumped out the way. I started to panic slightly as Shinigami suddenly started to crawl on top of me in front of everyone in the club. I willed myself not to respond to his slight touches.

"I'm gonna take my time, he gon get his before I..." He moaned while my eyes widened even more as he changed the words of the song to a He...oh fuck! He was way too close for comfort.

"I'm gonna take it slow woah woahh..." He groaned as he made his way up my body, "I'm not gonna rush the stroke..." I grabbed hold of the red sheets beneath me as I tried to control myself. I watched as he lent down close to my ear, "If you don't know by now, Shinigami is a freak freak freeeeaak..." He lifted his head and stared down into my eyes, "I keep a bad bitch with me, 7 days out the week..." I felt like I'd melted on the spot, oh Jesus Christ! What has happened to me. What has Zechs done to me, the fucking bastard! I'm attracted to Shinigami, a guy... but I'm a guy!

"And all that we ever do is play in the sheets sheet sheeeeettss" He sung as he clamped his hands on my waist, which he was currently half sitting on before he ran his hands up my shirt and up the sides of my stomach, caressing my skin while flipping his head back in ecstasy. Vaguely I could feel the end of his braid tickling my bare stomach. He was teasing me, and I could see the look in his eyes that he knew and that he wanted to and he was enjoying this as much as I was. "Smoke us a cigarette and go back to sleep."

And then he was gone as quick as he had come, off and down to the other side of the club dancing away with other dancers. I instantly felt saddened at the loss of his body on top of mine, however I also shivered at my realization. I fancied another man. Not just any man, an erotic dancer from a club in South Sanc. This will completely kill my reputation, I'll be the laughing stock of the whole school - and I'll be damned if I become the next loser Duo Maxwell. I stood in anger. Turning to Trowa I nodded towards the exit before rushing off. I didn't bother to explain myself until the two of us were standing outside in the slightly cold night.

"Yuy?"

"I am definitely not into guys." I stated the important fact to him feeling slightly guilty for lying. For a moment he almost looked disappointed. There was silence between us before he nodded. Why is he looking so depressed?

"Alright." He murmured in a sad tone before shrugging his shoulders. "I'll see you on Monday, Yuy."

"See you later." I replied before marching off towards my car intending to get back to the church as fast as I could to forget the whole night and be as far away as possible from Shinigami.

**TBC...**


	24. The Evil Plan

**A/N - Sorry for the long delay, heres the next chap :) I'd like to say thankyou to my Beta for reading this through :)**

**Chapter 24**

**The Evil Plan**

**(Relena POV)**

I love Monday mornings. A fresh start to the week never fails to makes me happy. I always make sure I look my best on Monday's so I look better than everyone else. Not that that's hard to do, on Monday everyone usually looks like shit - like they can't be bothered to dress themselves after a lazy weekend. Today is no exception - which is why I look substantially better than everyone else.

I smile happily as I make my way down the school corridor, everyone parting in my way as I do. It's good to know that I have this much power over everyone and that soon when my Father becomes King they will have to bow at my feet. At my right hand side Dorothy follows closely, eyeing up every guy in her way. She really is a dirty pervert. We stop at her locker and empty our books and folders inside so we don't have to carry them around all day.

"You look wonderful today Relena." Dorothy says as she eyes up my new light pink Gucci blouse and white Louis Viton skirt. My smile grows even bigger.

"I know Dorothy." I state matter of factly. Of course I look great, I am after all the best looking girl in this school. "So, did you find out anything about my mystery singer?"

"He's called Shinigami." Dorothy tells and I roll my eyes.

"I already knew that Dorothy." I snap angrily. It's already been 5 days and I haven't been able to find out anything about him. I need to know who he is! He could be the love of my life! "Have you found out anything new?"

"He works in a club in South Sanc called Underworld." I wrinkle my nose at the words South Sanc. How anyone can live in that shit hole is beyond me. Ah well it's their fault, if I lived there I would leave the first second I had the chance to. Dorothy carries on, "he sings there every Saturday night."

I smile in success, "You find out where he lives? What his real name is?"

"No..." Dorothy's frowning now, her big dark eyebrows nearly covering her striking blue eyes. "He's a hard one to find out about. The guys down the club didn't like giving out information on him, even after I tried to bribe them." An image of Dorothy trying to seduce a man to get information from him comes to my mind and I quickly squash it. Instead I think about my beautiful mysterious singer and feel the butterflies flutter in my stomach. A guy with no name, no identity – he sounds dangerous and exciting, this just makes me want him even more, and God forbid it, he will be mine!

"I need to know who he is Dorothy." I growl in determination. "He's the perfect person for me – we have so much in common; we can both sing, we can both dance – I bet he's got my great personality to!"

"I'm totally with you Relena." Dorothy answers as I turn to make my way to my next lesson R.E. I flick my beautiful golden hair behind my shoulders and smile at every good looking guy I pass.

"Which is why you need to try harder to find out who he is." I say. Twirling round to face her I clasp my hand over my heart and try to look as dramatic as possible. "He could be the love of my life!"

Out the corner of my eye I can see Heero glaring down the corridor towards me, this just makes me want to smile even more. I love the way he still gets jealous.

"So what about him?" Dorothy murmurs, her eyes shifting towards Heero. "I thought you loved him."

I roll my eyes. "Dorothy, Heero's old news – a boring old fart." _Are you sure about that Relena? _I feel my heart lurch...where did that thought come from?

"But what about the Deal?"

"I'm doing the Deal to get him off my back." I answer slowly as I feel something tinge inside. "I want new things." I say as I turn to continue on my way to R.E. Dorothy follows closely behind as we make our way through the school. I always dread walking to R.E. It's the furthest classroom away from the lockers and on Monday's I always wear my new shoes which I buy on the weekend. Today's heels happen to be 4" high, but they are incredible beautiful and expensive.

Strolling past the school's music room I stop. Someone is singing a tuneful melody inside M3 and I swear I've heard the voice somewhere before. It was male without a doubt but it toned perfectly with the twinkling keys of the piano. Frowning I turned to Dorothy who also had a look of suspicion on her face.

"You hear that?" I whisper - I don't know why I did because there's no one else around us. She nods her head and evilly saunters up to M3's classroom window. Peaking in she gasps before turning to me.

"You'd better take a look Relena." She says her dark eyebrows raised in shock. Frowning I shove past her and glance through the window, there I see Duo Maxwell sitting with Quatre singing as blondy plays the piano. What the...since when has Duo been able to sing? He even sounds nearly as good as me! But everyone knows I'm the best singer in this school! I twirl towards Dorothy confused and slightly angered.

"Did you know anything about this?" I snap, angry at the fact that I didn't know. I should know, I'm the Queen of the school!

"I didn't even know he even took music Relena." Dorothy murmurs her icy blue eyes glancing past me before her eyebrows arch evilly. Sometimes Dorothy's face scares me. "How about we test his singing skills?"

"What do you mean..." before I could finish my sentence Dorothy's twirled me around to see a large poster with a picture of me on from last year. The school talent show. I win it every year because I have the best talent in the school. Because I am the best person in the school.

"How about we enter Maxwell." A smile comes to my lips, before I realise last entries were at the end of the last school year. I feel Dorothy close behind me as she whispers into my ear, "I could pull a few strings to get him in." I turn to her as she undoes a button of her silky cream shirt. "Mr Kershaw always loved me." I cringe at the thought of the old music teacher looking over my friend's assets before turning back to the poster. The show is this Friday and luckily I had my act sorted a month ago.

"You really think we should enter Maxwell into this?" I murmur, Dorothy nods her head before a crackling laugh leaves her lips. Sometimes Dorothy really scares me.

"Do you really think Yuy would want to be seen with this kid after he has made a fool outta himself in front of the whole school?" She replies before clasping her hands together and doing a girlish squeal, "this would be the perfect way to help you on your way to victory!"

I grin at the thought, Heero would be completely humiliated if he had to hang round with Maxwell after he'd made a fool out of himself. I would be able to get Quatre exactly where I want him. Turning back to Dorothy I jump at the offer.

"Go see what you can do, I'll meet you by the lockers at lunch." Dorothy nods her head before turning in the direction of the staffroom. I in the mean time turn on my heel to get to class, I'm already 10 minutes late, and being late isn't exactly my style.

**(Heero POV)**

For the first time in my life I left school early today. Everything was just pissing me off, first Relena walks into school looking as perfect as always, then I have Trowa looking at me with a depressed look on his face, then my Psychology teacher yells at me for not doing my homework over the weekend. Today has not started well, and I don't think it will get any better either. The only good thing about today is that the weather is great.

Lying back on the Maxwell Church's back garden I glare up at the deep blue sky watching as the clouds float eastwards. I remember as a child I'd go out into my back garden with my mother to watch the clouds. My fists clench at the thought pulling up some of the grass as I do so. In the distance I can hear the younger children screaming and cheering in the bunkhouse, and I silently thank God that they haven't come outside to annoy me yet.

Turning onto my side I stare at the large grey church taking in it's old structure before my eyes stray up to the church tower to see the ripped red curtain wafting around in the breeze. I narrow my eyes. Since the day I noticed the room I've been trying to find a way to get to it with no avail. Where there should be a door there isn't, it's almost as if the room is a secret and no one is allowed up there. My stomach arches at the thought of what could be in the secret room.

Jumping up from the grass I make my way towards the old church and enter through the back door of the empty kitchen. Entering the church I find it empty and eerily cold. Stopping to glare at where I thought the door should be I find myself staring at a large picture of Jesus on the wall. I wonder...

"Heero!" I hear someone exclaim from behind me. Twirling round I find Sister Helen standing behind me looking slightly breathless. "You scared me! I didn't think anyone was in here!"

"Sorry Sister," I murmur trying to force a small smile on my face to be polite.

"How come you're not at school?" She asks raising her eyebrow in interest.

"I'm not feeling very well." I answer quickly while not willing to give her the real reasons. I flinch slightly as she places her hand on my forehead. She frowns.

"You haven't got a temperature, what are your symptoms?"

"I've got a terrible headache and feel a bit sick." I reply "I came in here for some peace and quiet."

"Oh you must have the same as Duo," she says. "He couldn't even get out of bed yesterday and he came home about an hour ago."

"Duo came home from school?" I frown I haven't actually seen Duo since Friday, however I did spend most of my weekend drowning my sorrows locked up in my room trying to work out a suitable plan to win this bet with no avail. I am royally screwed and by this time next year I'll be the biggest loser in the school.

"No he's in the bunkhouse, the kids haven't left the building all day it's a wonder what they're all getting up to," she smiles before cocking her head towards the kitchen. "I have painkillers and medicine if you would like some?"

"No I'm fine Sister – I don't really like to take medicine I'd prefer to wait it out." Not that any medicine would cure my illness.

The nun smiles at me before nodding her head, "why don't you head over to the bunkhouse, something interesting must be going on if none of the kids have come out all day."

"Sure." I smile at her before turning to make my way to the bunkhouse not really wanting to join in with whatever is happening however I am very intrigued to find out how Maxwell is keeping all the kids so under control.

As I get near I can hear music blearing from the kids main bedroom and shouts and cheers. This makes me quicken my step to actually see what the hell is going on. As I open the bunkhouse main doors the music gets louder and I frown at the type of music it is. I'd heard the song before in one of the main clubs in North Sanc when I've been out with Relena – The Whistle Song. Moving into stealth mode making sure I wouldn't get caught I sliver up to the main doors and glance through the windows. My eyes widen at the scene.

Duo is sat on top of one of the bunks as one of the older kids, Ted I think his name is, is dancing to the music looking very professional. The other kids are sat clapping very happily and cheering the boy on. Ted looks like he should be in a music video and he never misses a step. The kids whistle to the song as it gets to the chorus. What the hell is going on here? I watch as the song finishes and another comes on, Ted turns to Duo and pulls him off the bunk.

My eyes glue onto Duo as he gives the kid a very cocky grin that in my world does not belong on a shy church geek. I feel my chest contract at the wild look on his face, it makes him look like he's a different person not the shy orphan. He pulls off his old woolly jumper he's wearing so he's in those horrible dungarees and a white tank top. I feel my heart begin to pump in my chest as I stare at his body and my throat suddenly becomes very dry. Yuy you are seriously fucked up, are you eyeing up Maxwell...again?

And suddenly my whole perception of Duo Maxwell is shot to hell. He begins to dance to the song his body moving perfectly to the beat while Ted walks around him a similar grin on his face. I watch the way his body moves and I can feel myself getting turn on at the sight. The beat suddenly slows down and my eyes glue onto the dungarees that are slipping down his hips for being about 2x to big revealing some skin and the top of his black boxers. Oh shit.

I turn away from the scene just as his hand suddenly clamps down on his hat as he does a very technical looking move making the kids cheer in excitement and clap. Rushing back to my room I feel horrified at myself. Slamming my bedroom door behind me I almost scream as I throw myself onto my bed. Damn my life to hell! Why do I have to be so fucking weird. First Shinigami and now Duo. Why do I have to be attracted to the worse people possible? First an erotic dancer from Underworld and now the biggest geek in school. My rep would be killed! I wonder if I'm just attracted to them or if I'm attracted to others as well. I've never really looked at guys before and thought they were attractive...until now. The problem is I can distance myself from Shinigami, I promised myself after last Saturday I would never go and see his show again, however I'm stuck here with Duo. My life can not possible get any worse.

To be honest at least if I do find Duo a little bit attractive it will make the bet easier and I will be able to get Relena back faster. Then maybe my whole school life wouldn't be so ruined.

My body feels exhausted from all my mental turmoil and before I know it I'm waking up to someone knocking lightly on my bedroom door. I open my sleepy eyes and find that it's dark outside.

"Heero?" I hear Duo's voice call through. Ah fuck not you! Go away! please go away! "You OK? Sister Helen told me you came home ill today." I stay silent wishing he'd go away and leave me alone. "Heero?"

I sigh loudly getting up from my bed and angrily make my way towards the door. Opening it more roughly than I meant I find Duo on the other side thankfully dressed in his manky jumper and some old jeans. I thanked God he wasn't wearing those dungarees.

"I err - " he begins as I hadn't yet spoken. I feel a blush spread across my face, I'd been too busy eyeing him up. How much worse can this get? "Dinner's ready - I err - I mean Sister Helen sent me to get you. She said you needed to eat since you're ill." I sigh in frustration as my lie comes back on me. I would have liked to hide away in my room for the remainder of the night.

"Fine." I murmur weakly in defeat knowing if I said "no" to Duo the Nun would personally come and get me herself. Glancing out the corner of my eye as I turn to grab my jacket my eyes are drawn to the smile on Duo's lips and how different he looks without the cocky grin on his face. I follow him all the way to the dining room while trying to keep my eyes off the way his jeans cling perfectly to his ass and I suddenly realise how deep I am getting into all this shit.

**TBC....**


	25. The Wager

A/N: I forgot to say at the bottom of the last chapter that the song being listened to when the guys were dancing was called 'There it Go' (The Whistle Song) by Juelz Santana :)

**Chapter 25**

**The Wager**

**Duo POV**

Quatre's running late today. One of his sisters came home from University this morning and the whole of his family had to be at the airport to welcome her home. Therefore I knew the first half of today was going to suck BIG time. Heero left unusually early this morning, normally I see him reversing out of the church drive as I grab my lunch, however today I noticed his amazing sports car was gone before I even had chance to eat my breakfast.

He still doesn't suspect after everything that has happened. After Saturday night I was sure he would have realised, but he didn't leave his room all Sunday – and I never left mine. It just shows how good my disguise is! Anyway, you could say that I sat in my room all day waiting for my fate, for Heero to come bursting in and reveal that he knew who I really was and then either a: beat the shit outta me or b: run for the hills. In my version c: he wouldn't do any of them and it would involve me, him and – wait, wait! Hold on Maxwell, no point going down that line. Like Heero Yuy would ever look at you in that way anyway.

Since that night he's been unusually quiet – not that he's usually not quiet, he just doesn't seem like he's awake properly – like he's thinking too much or has too much on his mind. It's probably Relena, he's probably making plans on how to get her back. My heart sinks at the thought.

Stumbling miserably into Music class I settle into my seat at the front of the class. As usual the seats either side of me and behind are not taken by the other students. I sniff the clothes I'm wearing. I don't smell bad today -

"Alright everybody!" Mr Kershaw, my Music teacher yells over everyone as they cease their gossiping. "I want everyone to continue researching their chosen musician for their final coursework next term. I've booked us the computer room down the hall away, so would you all sensibly make your way to M8."

There were some murmurs as the chatter started up again and everyone began to leave their seats. Gathering up my stuff and shoving it into my plastic bag I make my way out of the classroom only to have Mr Kershaw stroll up to me.

"Ah Duo!" He calls happily as he makes his way to my side. "Are you all ready for Friday?"

Friday? I frown at the words, "Ready for what?"

"The Talent Show!" he exclaims happily, "someone tipped me off that you were dying to take part in it, so I pulled some strings to get you in." My whole body suddenly turns numb as I feel my mouth flop open. The Talent Show – why the hell would I want to do the school talent show?

My heart suddenly begins to beat erratically. I can't do the school talent show! Oh God, Oh Jesus! Someone is trying to set me up! My legs feel extremely weak underneath me and I have to grab hold of the door to steady myself.

"To tell you the truth it was pretty hard work since that the head has to now rework the show schedule to fit you in..." I need to get myself the hell outta this situation before it can actually happen. I go to open my mouth but stop to listen to the rambling from my teacher.

"It's going to be great Duo, I'm so happy you finally wanted to give it a go!" The excited look on his face makes me instantly feel guilty. Mr Kershaw has always been a pusher, and has told me before that he wants to see me achieve musically in some way. He would probably want to see me get all big and famous – what he doesn't know is that I'm famous - in South Sanc.

"So what are you thinking about performing?" He asks excitedly and full of energy, "have you got your act sorted?"

Still in shock I try to shake myself out of it, "I – I – I mean, I don't really know yet." Jesus Maxwell you're supposed to be getting yourself outta this mess not deeper in.

"Jesus boy the show's on Friday!" Mr Kershaw exclaims, "I've always got the music to chart songs if you want them."

"No -" I say quickly just the thought of me standing in front of the whole school singing to anything like the Backstreet Boys makes me cringe. I sigh deeply in defeat as I take in my teacher and the way he looks generally happy for me to be taking part. If I pulled out now he would be deeply upset and I would feel instantly terrible.

"I'll be fine," Are you sure Maxwell? You have to sing in front of the whole school. Someone might recognise you and sell you out to the teachers and the rest of the school. "I've got my own song I could sing."

"Well that's good to know," suddenly he places his hand on my shoulder and looks me straight into the eye. "Duo you don't know how long I have waited for you to come out of your shell and show everyone what you are capable of. I hope you win on Friday."

For the first time in my life, I instantly feel like I'm not the inferior person who attends this school and I know that his comment was genuine. I feel a smile come to my lips as I stare at the middle aged greying man who actually wants me to win and by God I'll do my best to win just to prove to him and the rest of the school that I am not just a choir geek.

Having been too absorbed in going over possible songs I could sing, what image to portray and what outfit to wear to actually do some real work, the bell rang for lunch making me jump.

As I put my books away I wonder over if Quatre will let me borrow some clothes and if they will have the right sound equipment - suddenly it hits me as I stand next to my locker waiting for Q that I don't have the equipment to perform properly. If I wanted to win I would either need people to play instruments or to record the whole melody of the song on a CD. The only other option would be to take up Mr Kershaw's offer of backing music. This thought takes me on a instant downer.

"Hey Duo," I hear Q's voice as he approaches and I can feel his eyes burning into the side of my head. "Something wrong?" Yup.

"Quatre I'm in big trouble." I sigh running a hand across my face feeling the stress of the situation finally catch up with me.

"What's up, anything I can help with?" Q asks concern lacing his voice. So I launch into the whole story of what I've got to do and why I can't get out of it. I watch Quatre's face as I do so, it goes between shock to anger to blank. "Duo someone's set you up, they obviously thought you'd make a fool out of yourself."

"But who would do that Q?" I see his eyes glance off to our right to see Relena and Dorothy chatting to a bunch of guys before bursting into laughter. I cringe at the annoying sound. Suddenly Relena notices us and races up to Quatre before placing a kiss on his cheek. I see my friend recoil at the touch.

"Hello Relena," he says and I can hear the slight anger in his voice. Quatre really doesn't like Miss Peacecraft. I watch as she links her arm around his and turns her attention towards me.

"Duo, I've just heard the great news!" She squeals in obvious fake delight, "I can't believe you've entered the talent show." I feel my hands clench tightly at my sides as I resist the urge to snarl an insult at her. She did it. She entered me into the stupid talent show, no doubt to try and make me look fool – not that I already don't look stupid enough around this school.

She continues, "I didn't even know you had a talent, but I suppose you learn something new every day!" My hands suddenly tighten and I can feel my nails digging painfully into my palms. Why if I were a girl I'd -

"I can sing Relena." I force out trying to sound calm. I can see Quatre's eyes have drifted off and his body is as rigid as an ironing board. I can tell that he's trying to keep his calm as well, if I were in his shoes having to live with the Bitch I think I would have killed myself by now.

"You can sing?!" Relena says trying to act shocked, "I can't wait to see what you have to offer!"

"I'm sure you can't" I hear Quatre growl before unhooking his arm from around hers, "was there anything you particularly wanted Relena?"

"Yes actually," she now turns her full attention onto Q. "I was just going to tell you that since the talent show is on Friday I wont be around the house from 7 till 9 every day till then." She bats her eyelashes at him as she places her hand tenderly on his arm, "I'm sorry if you were hoping we were going to spend time together, but when I'm done we'll spend the whole of Saturday together."

You have got to be kidding me.

"I'll check my diary Relena." Quatre says and I have to hold back a laugh, "I think Trowa and I might be doing something then." Her blue eyes suddenly flash madly as she snaps her hand away from him as if she'd been burnt.

"Quatre your supposed to be my English partner not his!" She screeches, the look on Quatre's face makes me burst out into a fit of laughter. Spinning around her raging eyes land on me. "What are you laughing at choir geek! How dare you laugh in my face!"

"Relena!" Quatre yells, "don't you dare talk to Duo like that, just because you can't have your own way doesn't mean you can treat other people badly!"

"But he was laughing at me," her voice whines and I inwardly cringe again. "Quatre, I only want us to hang out and be friends."

"Relena - " Quatre begins and then sighs in defeat. "- Fine, we'll hang out Saturday." I see a sly successful smile come to her lips.

"Great, I'll see you later." She reaches up and kisses him again on the cheek before turning and giving me a death glare. With that she storms away her heels clipping on the wooden floor of the corridor.

"You are _so_ going down Relena Peacecraft," I hear my friend murmur, his usually calm and peaceful eyes flashing madly. Turning to me he grabs my arm, "You're going to win this talent show Duo Maxwell and I'm going to do all in my power to help you."

"You will!" My downer instantly washes away as I think of all the possibilities Quatre and I could come up with to beat the wicked witch of the North. Suddenly a particular song dawns on me. One that I wrote a couple of weeks ago and had Quatre write the music for. It isn't the kind of song I would sing at Underworld, I just wrote it one night when I was in a particularly down mood. Every word reflects what I feel about life and about a certain someone. Quatre was nearly in tears when he read the lyrics, so I am hoping it will capture everyone else's attention.

"Quatre I'm thinking about doing The song."

"You mean..."

"Yes," I say with a million and one thoughts running around in my head. There's so much I need to do – I need to practice big time.

Quatre instantly looks excited, "come over to my house tomorrow, we'll practice while Relena is away." Jumping forward I capture my best friend into a hug. I know I can always count on Quatre, through thick and thin he has always been there for me. Pulling away I give him the biggest grin I can muster.

"Thanks Q, you've always been here for me when I need you the most." A blush comes to his cheeks as I throw an arm around his shoulder, "you're my best friend you know that."

"And you're mine Duo." He replies happily, "Now lets work out a plan to bring the bitch down." And that we did, and by the end of school I was bouncing off the walls with excited about our meet tomorrow. I need to read over the lyrics to my song and practise before singing in front of Q - I don't want to sound too bad.

Luckily when I got back the kids were too busy playing in the bunkhouse to know that I was relaxing out on the lawn. Looking through my little black book of lyrics I turn to the particular page I want and begin to read through. Lost in my own little world I didn't notice that I was not alone any more until I hear someone mumble behind me.

"What you doing?" I jump slightly at the sudden noise before turning round to see Heero standing behind me. I feel like I can't breath as I take in his perfect form. Today he is dressed in some low cut dark wash jeans and a plain white t-shirt. It's simple but he looks stunning. My mouth suddenly feels dry and I can't find the words to speak.

Why do you always make a fool outta yourself around him?!

I watch as he silently makes his way towards me and plops down on the grass. Leaning back on his elbows he sighs and I gulp as I watch him throw his head back and close his eyes letting the sun rays wash over him and completely cover him in a hazy golden glow.

He really is an Angel.

Cocking one eye open he frowns at me, "you OK Duo?"

"Yes!" I say almost too quickly as I fumble with my book, "just, you know, erm – getting ready for the talent show."

"You're entering the talent show?" He places his full focus on me now. "Why? How?"

"I'm guessing Relena entered me -" I begin uncertainly as a very dark look comes to his face - he looks like he wants to murder someone. "But I'm sure I'll be fine, I'm just thinking over what I'm going to sing."

"You're going to sing!?" I swear if Heero's eyes bulge out any more they are going to pop out. His hand suddenly slaps across his face in horror. "You're nuts! You're going to be the laughing stock of the school do you know that!"

"Why do you think that?"

"Duo you're -" He begins and then sighs and I can feel anger burning up inside of me. He thinks I can't do this. He's thinking what everyone else will be thinking – Duo Maxwell choir geek is going to try and sing and make a fool outta himself. Like a guy like him would have any talent at all. I want to burst into a fit of laughter, little does he know he is sitting next to the one and only Shinigami – but then again I'm just Duo to him. Plain, boring, old Duo Maxwell who would rather cower in a corner than go up on a stage and sing.

"I'm what?" I snap

" - Nothing."

"Come on say it!" I yell in anger feeling the grip I have on my book tighten. "Or do you want me to say it for you!"

"Duo -"

"I'm the choir geek, the biggest loser in school, the class reject, the poorest person in the whole of Sanc, a loner!" I snarl and I can feel every word stabbing into my heart making me realise why I like to keep a low profile at school. Maybe I shouldn't do this after all – or maybe I should prove them all wrong. "And you bet I have no talent and I'm going to make the biggest fool outta myself so I can be taken down as the biggest loser in the Guinness Book of Records."

"I just -"

"Didn't know I had a talent?" I say, I'd already heard those words once today from Bitch Peacecraft. Then again the two of them used to go out so why shouldn't they think in the same way – like two peas in a pod.

"Just because I'm a nobody doesn't mean I can't be good at anything that a somebody might be good at."

"Duo – look – I'm not trying to sound mean or anything but compared to Relena you don't have a chance." You think Shinigami hasn't got a chance against Miss Pink? Oh yes – you've really made me mad now.

"So why don't we make a little wager." I snarl, his eyes widen slightly and then darken.

"What are the conditions?" I sit there thoughtful for a few minutes trying to think of something I have to bet, and then it dawns on me – I have nothing Heero Yuy, God of the Sanc, would want.

"How about if Relena wins you have to tell me about your real past before you came here." Except that.

My mouth flops open, "but -" He can't know any of that stuff!

"And if you win -" he continues, the look that comes to his face will be burnt into my mind forever. Rolling onto his side he says with the sexiest grin, "I will take you out to dinner."

Holy fuck – sorry Lord – Heero Yuy is offering to take me out to dinner if I win! Holy mother of God! But what does that mean?! A celebratory dinner? A punishment for him? A date? (probably not the latter), but oh GOD! I smile openly and hold out my hand more confident.

"Deal." He takes it within his.

"Deal." He gives me a sort of smile which makes my heart skip a beat.

You see the thing is Heero Yuy, Shinigami always wins.

**TBC...**


	26. Help is on the way

**Chapter 26**

**Help is on the way**

**Heero POV**

OK, so Duo is about to make the biggest mistake of his life and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. I inwardly cringe as I think to what is going to happen. I can just image Duo standing up on the stage in front of everyone with some backing music provided by Mr Kershaw. It makes me want to scream! How can someone want to commit social suicide like that?!

This is all Relena's fault! How can I complete the bet when I know that he is the biggest laughing stock of the Sanc Kingdom? She's done all this because she knows that's what will happen. She'll win and I'll end up on my own with nothing but my mistakes to think about.

I slump moodily against our field tree as Trowa and WuFei gracefully sit down across from me. WuFei instantly gets into the meditation position and begins to calm his breaths while Trowa takes out an energy bar from his backpack.

Glancing over at me he sighs, "So what's got stuck up your arse today Yuy?" I glare hard at him as he continues, "No pun intended."

"Trowa I'm going to fucking kill you."

"Jesus! Calm down Yuy," he cries, putting his hands up to surrender. "What's happened?"

"Duo's entered the talent contest," I murmur unhappily in my seat as I rub a hand over my tired eyes. How can the guy be so stupid! Stupid BAKA!

"Oh has he now -" Trowa mutters a curious look on his face.

"This is so bad," I drawl in misery. "Why would he want to do that? He's going to be the biggest loser in the school after everyone sees him perform!"

"Why would it make him the biggest loser?" Trowa asks accusingly with a frown on his face. Why?! Why?!

"Because it's going to be the biggest embarrassment of the century that's why!" I reply with an exasperated sigh. "I don't even know if he can actually sing or if he's just going along for the ride."

"Sure Duo can sing." Trowa butts in very quickly, "I've heard him and he's actually quite good."

"Maxwell can sing?" One of WuFei's eyes pops open.

"Trowa's delusional." I murmur as I ball my fists in anger, my chance at winning Relena back and my life returning to normal is officially over.

"Why would I have to be delusional to think Duo is good at something?" Trowa snaps angrily.

"Because I've seen guys like him." I answer, "They're all the same Trowa, their basic – nothing but pure geekness. He'll probably go up on stage in a star wars outfit."

"I can't believe you can actually think that of Duo." Trowa rages and then suddenly calms down. A weird smile comes to his face as he chuckles to himself. "I think you'll be pleasantly surprised when you hear him sing."

"Like hell I will." I snap back already too annoyed with the situation to even give it the time of day any more. "I hope he loses anyway."

Trowa raises his eyebrows, "That's a bit harsh, why would you want that?"

"Because I have to take him out to dinner if he wins." A large grin appears on Trowa's face and I instantly have the urge to punch it right off.

"Jesus Yuy, the things you have to do nowadays to get a date."

"It's not a date." I ground out while I glare. It's not a date! I don't even like Maxwell – sure he's got a nice body, can dance like a pro, has beautiful eyes. Oh fuck – did I just say beautiful?

"Sure. So who decided on what you should do if he won?"

"- me." Trowa suddenly bursts out laughing and before he knows it I've launched myself at him. A full blown wrestling match begins but his laughter just increases. "God damn it Trowa!"

"Yuy fancies Maxwell, Yuy fancies Maxwell!"

"I do not!" I yell grabbing him in a headlock. I can see WuFei out of the corner of my eye still in the same place as before, but with a slight smirk on his face. Damn them both to hell! I'm through. I've had it. I can't take much more of this. I need out, I need to get away from everyone and everything. I don't fancy Maxwell. I don't, I don't!

I want to crawl into a hole and die, but all I can hear is Trowa's laughter and all I can see if WuFei's smirk. I hate them, I hate Zechs, I hate Duo, I hate Shinigami, I hate Relena and most of all I hate myself.

"Alright calm down Yuy," Trowa chuckles pushing me away. I lay back in my original spot with my arms crossed, glaring at the man across from me.

"Please don't let him do the talent show, please try and stop him."

"In your dreams Yuy." Trowa replies, "Let Duo do as he pleases you don't own him."

"But -" I give a loud sigh and give up. "Duo no baka."

**Trowa POV **

Alright, so maybe Heero hasn't figured out what he is feeling yet. I was pretty sure the other night he had talked himself round to not feeling anything for Shinigami aka Duo, but it seems the tables have turned – and now I'm scared one of them is going to get hurt.

There's too much lying going on, starting off with 'The Deal' and now with Duo's actual identity. Someone is going to get hurt and I have a feeling this is going to end in tears. After listening to Heero rant about Duo it sparked something in WuFei and soon enough he was ranting about his wife to be. I think I'm going to cut my ears off if I have to deal with this every day.

Walking to my next class I spot Quatre in the hallway and rush to catch a quick chat with him. He doesn't even notice me as I come to stop at his side and then I notice that he looks a little stressed and has black circles around his eyes.

"Something wrong Quatre?" I ask, slightly concerned. He jumps, nearly dropping the book he had reached into his locker to get.

"Trowa!" he exclaims as his hand flies up cover his heart. "You gave me a fright."

"Sorry," I murmur impishly. "You look tired."

"Yeah, I've just got a lot on my mind," he replies his eyes flicker towards a poster of the talent show.

"I heard the news." I say as I lean against the lockers next to his. Folding my arms across my chest I ask, "What's Duo going to do?"

Quatre heaves a deep sigh, "he's planned to sing a song he wrote a couple of weeks ago before we started back at school." He explains - "but I didn't realise there is so much to do! With just the two of us working on it we have to record all the sounds before meshing them together and putting them on a C.D. That usually takes weeks and we now have 3 nights to do it."

I frown, "Isn't there an easier way?"

"Only if he sings live, but that would mean we would have to find people to play the right instruments. I don't think many people in this school would bother to help Duo." A sad look comes to Quatre's face and I know what he's thinking – how sad has this school actually got? How can they be so mean to such a kind hearted person?

We stand in silence for a few minutes both thinking over what could be done to help. By the time an idea pops into my head the corridors are empty and it's just the two of us.

"Don't worry about it Quatre, leave it to me." I say before adding a small smile, "I'll find you your musicians."

Quatre's amazing sky blue eyes widen as his mouth drops, "Trowa – you mean – do you think people will actually help?"

"If I ask them. I know a few musicians who owe me, so there's no way they can back out." The smile that comes to Quatre's face is amazing and I instantly feel like I'm being drawn to him like a moth to a flame.

"Trowa – you're amazing." He suddenly drops his gaze away from mine a deep red blush crossing his slightly tanned cheeks. "Thank you – Duo will never forget this."

"No problem." Stepping forward I reach towards him and gentle tilt his chin back up so I can stare into his eyes. I can feel my heart thumping in my chest as I lose myself in his gaze. "I'd do anything for you Quatre."

"I -" I hear his stutter as he realises how close I've pulled him towards me and how close our lips are together. I can feel his short breaths puff over my lips and I can smell his sweet sent, which just makes me want him more.

Suddenly the school bell alarms making us both jump. A fire alarm. Great.

I cruse the damn world as all the students begin to exit the classrooms in an orderly fashion to line up at the fire safety point. I turn to Quatre; he gives me the wickedest grin which instantly turns me on. Placing a hand suggestively on my chest he gently pushes away from me while his hand slowly travels lower and lands on my hip, caressing me through my shirt. All I want to do at that moment was grab him and kiss the living daylight out of him.

"I'll see you later Trowa." He purrs making my eyes widen. At this rate I won't even give a damn about the other people. I think I might have to go somewhere and cool off before class.

"Be at my house with your friends at 7." He says before turning to make his way towards the safety point. My eyes are glued to his arse until he disappears.

I had a lot to do before meeting Quatre at his place. I didn't see Heero or WuFei for the rest of the day as most of it was spent calling in old favours. First I met up with Garry who owed me for protecting his brother against bullies, he said yes after a bit of persuasion and knowing he would be able to go in Quatre's house again. Next it was Sarah, then Will, Zack, and finally a few of the orchestra group who were too shy to even say 'No' to me. Ah – the power of being a popular guy.

After telling them all where to meet me, I rushed through my last classes before driving home, grabbing something to eat and a shower. By 7 I was rushing towards Quatre's gate with 10 students behind me. Ringing the gate buzzer I hear Rashid's voice boom through. I tell him it's me and he says Quatre's expecting us.

As we walk up to the house I can hear murmurs behind me ranging from 'Ooooo's' and 'Awwwww's' to 'I can't believe we've been invited over again.' Rashid is there to greet us as we reach the large front doors.

"Welcome Master Trowa, how nice to see you again." He says in his deep voice. I offer him a smile and introduce all the people I've brought along. The large man smiles and greets all of them with a handshake before turning back to me. "Master Quatre is in the music room with Master Duo. Please follow me."

The large Arabian walks us through the enormous house. I think we had to walk down 3 long corridors before we even got near the music room. Rashid stops outside a large white door and knocks. Two seconds later Quatre opens the door with a large smile on his face which gets even bigger when he notices how many people I've rounded up.

"Trowa, guys, thanks for coming, come in and make yourself comfortable." I watch as they all rush past with their instruments in hand to enter the room. I enter last and give Quatre a big smile as I pass which he returns.

Turning to survey the room I find a lot of recording equipment and a computer at one end while the other end contains numerous instruments ranging from a large grand piano to a Mandolin guitar, an instrument I had learnt to play while growing up. I notice Duo sitting on the piano stool with his dirty old hat on, looking quite shocked and awe at the fact that so many people had come to help.

"First off -" Quatre begins, "I would like to say thank you to you all that have come here to help and be part of Duo's act. Without your help we would have been having a lot of sleepless nights." He smiles, "- before we begin I need to know what instruments each of you can play."

I watch as he travels down the line of people with satisfaction before turning to me, "can you play an instrument Trowa?"

"I can play the Mandolin." I reply and his smile gets bigger.

"Great!" He exclaims before grabbing up the beautiful looking guitar from its stand and handing it to me. "You've just gained yourself one of the lead parts."

"Brilliant," I murmur suddenly feeling slightly nervous at the thought of having to play in front of the whole school. But then again, why should I feel nervous I've played football in front of the whole school before and been forced into participating in a school play. This should be a walk in the park.

I watch as Quatre holds up a wad of paper "- Last night I went over all the music and revamped it. Now the sound should fit together perfectly." He called out each instrument one by one and the person playing that part went up to get their sheet of music notes from him. Looking down at my own I can instantly tell I will have to practice religiously for the next couple of days, however I am confident I will be able to play it perfection with some practice.

"We haven't got anyone on drums." Quatre announced with a slight worried look. "Does anyone know someone who can play the drums?" There are murmurs between the 10 but no one speaks up.

I know someone – but I'm not sure they would be willing to help. Maybe with a little blackmail -

"I know someone." I sigh as I rub a hand over my face while wondering what I'm about to get myself into.

"You do?" Quatre beams, "great! Do you think they will help us?"

I shrug my shoulders – WuFei wanting to help people? Yeah right in your dreams! "Maybe, I'll have to find out tomorrow." After I've blackmailed him enough to help.

The practice went brilliant with everyone trying to get used to their parts and what the melody sounded like. My part wasn't as hard as I first thought and I spent most of the two hours with Duo. As he sung and strummed on his guitar I could see his eyes sparkling with joy and excitement and I felt good about it, because I had helped cause it. It was weird sitting next to him and hearing his beautiful voice when I'd only heard it coming from Shinigami.

The words to the song were amazing and I choked up because the expression on his face as he sung told me that every word was true and heartfelt.

"Are you nervous?" I ask as he takes a breather and a sip of water. His violet eyes land on me before he nods his head a little.

"You know it's weird -" he says looking down at the water swishing around in the bottle, "The amount of time's I've performed in front of people you would have thought that this would be easy." He frowns, looking slightly uncertain, "but at school – It's like I walk into a different world, it's as if I'm not me anymore, I don't feel like me – I feel like I can't be me." His words hit the right spot and I know exactly what he was feeling – too an extent.

"I just thought this song would, in a way, express my feelings –"he smiles wistfully at me,

"- without anyone noticing."

"You shouldn't hide yourself from people Duo." I say with meaning, "you are so much more than people realise."

"I like being simple to them." He replies with a smile as I remember Heero's words today 'they're all the same Trowa, their basic – nothing but pure geekness.'

"Anyway -" he says as a wicked grin comes to his face. He winks at me, "I don't think they could handle Shinigami." I laugh at that, just the thought of Relena finding out about Duo's identity and all the girls around school pinning over him would be incredible funny.

"Wouldn't you like Relena to fall at your feet?"

"Ha!" He grins, "I think I would rather jump off a cliff than have Princess all over me."

"You just tell that to Heero."

"Yeah, well, the guys blind." He says as a sad look briefly crosses his face.

"You like him don't you?" I say. It's more of a statement than a question. His face suddenly turns beat red as his mouth starts to flap open and closed as he tries to think of a comeback, but to no avail. Of course he likes him. After everything that has happened how could he deny it? Maxwell fancies Yuy? Or is it Yuy fancies Maxwell?

"I -" He gives up and drops his head.

"So is the song about him?" I ask with a smirk, his eyes shoot open and he can't reply.

"- I don't lie Tro, so I guess." He murmurs and then looks me straight into the eyes, "But I know you can keep a secret."

As soon as he said it, all my worries come flooding back to me – 'The Deal', Duo's identity and everything else. Why does it seem like I'm caught in the middle?

**TBC...**


	27. I think I'm falling for you

**Chapter 27**

**I think I'm falling for you**

**Trowa POV**

With last night's practice going extremely well, I could tell the group was getting excited about the Talent show on Friday, which is in fact tomorrow. I watch with happiness as some of the guys even say 'Hello' to Duo in the corridor and stop to talk to him - probably to ask him questions about the music. The look on Duo's face is heart warming and it makes me wonder what he would look like just being him without the hat or Shinigami's disguise.

Wondering down the corridor I spy my victim talking briefly to Sally before she laughs out loud and calls him a 'Pussy'. I growl in annoyance - well done Sally, you've just made my task even harder. He storms away from her in a mood, heading towards me, his dark eyes glaring at everything and everything. I sigh here we go.

"Bloody Onna, how dare she talk to me like that!" He snarls as he gets to my side, "One day I'm gonna -" he suddenly does an impression of strangling someone and then smothering someone with a cushion making me laugh out loud.

"Seriously WuFei, she ain't that bad," I chuckle

"You tell me that when she turns all her attention to you."

"You give her the attention WuFei, and the reason she does it is because you react so badly." I reply, my friend growls in anger. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you." Here we go.

"Sure." He bites out the single word.

"I need your help."

"No."

"No?" I exclaim, levelling him with an annoyed glare, "I haven't even told you what I need help with yet!"

"If it's got anything to do with Yuy and his new found gayness I want nothing to do with it," he snaps.

"It's got nothing to do with Yuy and his –" I stop in mid sentence and shake my head. " - anyway, it's not actually me that needs your help it's Duo."

"Maxwell?" WuFei raises his eyebrow, "why would I want to help him?"

"Because he needs your help WuFei." I continue, "We need a drummer for his act in the Talent show. I don't know anyone who can play drums except for you."

"Two things Barton." WuFei begins, "One, why would I want to help Maxwell? And two, I don't do Talent shows. Period."

"WuFei -" Here it comes, time for plan B: Beg "Please?" WuFei just looks at me as if I've just grown another head.

"Ermm – No."

"Alright I didn't want it to come to this but -" Plan C: Blackmail. Five minutes later I have WuFei eating out the palm of my hand as he finally announces that I'm the biggest bastard in the world before asking with a sigh what time he needs to be over and if Quatre owns a drum kit.

"Quatre's got everything you need so don't worry – and don't be late." WuFei scowls at me as he walks away to his next class and I instantly feel proud of myself – never before have I had Chang WuFei eating out the palm of my hand. I enter Science happily but my mood is instantly smashed as I have to sit next to moody bastard number two – Heero Yuy.

Science seemed to drag by far too slowly, between watching Quatre and Duo discuss Friday down to having a glaring match with Yuy nothing else seemed to happen. I was glad when the class finally ended and we could all go home.

**Quatre POV**

Duo Maxwell never creases to amaze me. As I sit silently on my piano stool I watch and listen as he sings his song while strumming on his guitar to perfection – the amount of pure emotion poured into his voice is astounding. He finishes and I don't realise I've been holding my breath until the room falls silent once again.

Duo's twinkling eyes land on me, "You OK Q? It wasn't that bad was it?"

"No – No Duo, it was perfect!" I exclaim, "If you sing like that on Friday there's no doubt you'll win."

"Yeah, yeah." I hear him mutter as he shuffles the lyric sheets in his hands.

"So, I've meaning to ask -" I begin, "the person your singing about is it -"

"Heero?" He asks and I nod, he blushes. "Who else would I be singing about?" I give him a small sad smile as there is a knock on the music room door. Rushing over to open it I find Rashid with the guys.

"Hey everyone, ready for round two?" Everyone replies 'Yes' with great enthusiasm and quickly enter while saying their 'Hello's'. When the 10 have entered I am stunned to find WuFei standing behind Trowa looking slightly pissed off.

Trowa grins at me, "I'd like to introduce to you our new drummer."

"Wow." I murmur in shock. Chang WuFei wants to help Duo win the talent show? Confused as Hell I let the two of them pass and they take seats with the other guys who have already unpacked their instruments and placed their music sheets on their stands.

"I was thinking today everyone can continue practising their own pieces before we have a first run through." I say. Everyone nods their heads in obvious excitement.

"So -" WuFei begins looking around the room before his eyes land on my father's brand new unused drum kit in the corner. "I'll go practise if you wouldn't mind giving me my music sheet." I grin happily as I pass him the pieces of paper and watch him practically run over to the drum kit. I can hear Duo chuckling behind me while Trowa has a large grin on his face.

"How's your practising going Trowa?" I ask interestedly, he smiles and turns all his attention to me making my heart skip a beat. It's hard to believe that a guy like him would do all of this to help guys like myself and Duo. I still can't believe he actually likes me.

"It's going good, I pulled out my old Mandolin last night to practice."

"That's great!" I exclaim, generally happy that everyone seems to be so keen to help Duo. I just hope it all pulls together on the big night. Holding up my violin I say, "Would you like to practice with me?"

"Sure thing." We both take up a spare corner in the stupidly large music room as everyone begins to practice their pieces. I can see Duo talking to a few of the guys out of the corner of my eye as he strums on his guitar, it's strange to think that since yesterday the 10 helpers have all been drawn to Duo. He's a natural charmer when he wants to be and since finding out so many people want to help him I think it's boosted his confidence at school a little.

"So have you practised at all?" Trowa asks me as he begins to strum a few strings on his Mandolin.

"I spent most of last night trying to perfect my notes. I really want this to go well for Duo – he deserves it after all." I chuckle, "- imagine Relena's face when Duo wins, it will be the highlight of the century!"

"You really think he's going to win." He says, a look of hope in his eyes

I smile, "I know he's going to win, I can just feel it." Turning my gaze towards Duo I see that he has now turned his attention to WuFei. It looks like the two are having a conversation before I hear WuFei yell "MAXWELL!" and see Duo dash off towards the others. Oh dear I wonder what was said. WuFei glares after the boy for a minute before happily turning back to my father's drums again. "You just need to hear him sing the song to know he's going to be a hit."

"I was listening to him yesterday -" he begins. "He sounds like an angel when he sings."

I nod in agreement as I watch my best friend help the others perform their parts. He looks so happy so content. Without Trowa none of this would have been possible.

Turning back to Trowa I smile, "Thank you again for all your help, without you this wouldn't have been possible. You're our savour – 'our saving grace' as Duo put it."

A blush spreads across his face.

We practice for a while before we only have an hour left until Relena is due home from her nightly practices with her choreographer and voice coach. Everyone gets into a line with their music sheets in front of them and we have our first go at putting everyone's piece of music together. To our surprise the first time goes extremely well and after 3 tries Duo finally has his chance to sing.

I watched silently as Duo hits the notes of the song perfectly as he strums his guitar. A few of our school colleagues have to stop and just simply listen. His voice is amazing, travelling perfectly from one note to the next. Everyone is shell shocked, even WuFei. I can see his onyx eyes are glued onto Maxwell and he has a confused look on his face.

By the end of the night everyone was saying their goodbyes and heaping their praises on Duo, he'd been called amazing a couple of times. He was grinning by the time everyone but Trowa and WuFei had left. Trowa and I watched in silence as WuFei made his way to Duo's side and we could hear his quite voice, "Well done Maxwell, you have a beautiful talent."

Duo's grin just got even bigger and I think Trowa nearly fainted at the comment.

"Thanks Fei."

"It's WuFei."

"Sure Wuffers,"

"Maxwell!"

Glancing over at the two of us Duo suddenly pushes WuFei out the door, "Come Feikins, let's go home."

"Maxwell I'm not giving you a lift."

"Aw. Why not?" I could hear Duo's voice disappearing down the corridor and WuFei's booming response of not wanting to drive into South Sanc. Next to me Trowa chuckles softly as he returns my father's Mandolin back to its stand.

"Duo really is coming out of his shell now."

"Once he's around people he knows he can trust he lets himself go." I say as I feel my exhaustion begin to take over. I yawn loudly as I slump down on the piano stool. "You wait until he's let it all go, Duo Maxwell really is a handful."

He chuckles again and comes to sit next to me, yawning loudly himself, and murmurs "Well I hope all this work pays off tomorrow."

"It will" I reply positively turning towards him, "I can't wait to see everyone's faces."

"Nor can I" He says quietly his eyes looking down and boring into mine. Trowa's eyes are a stunning colour of green and seem endless. Before I know it his face is an inch away from mine and my heart suddenly feels like its stopped. All my attention is suddenly drawn to his perfect lips and his hand which is snaking around my waist and pulling me gently towards him.

His lips are strikingly warm against mine and I feel like I can't breathe. I'm kissing Trowa Barton – and it feels good – extremely good. My body moves as if on autopilot as my arms snap up and wind themselves around his neck tight, as if he would suddenly disappear. His kisses suddenly become more insistant as he backs me onto the piano – my elbows land onto the keys and subconsciously I can hear them twinkling.

So this is what I've been missing.

All too soon Trowa's pulled away from me just far enough that our lips aren't touching but our foreheads still are.

"I think I'm falling for you Quatre." I hear him whisper, his words instantly make my heart contract and all I want is for him to stay with me and never leave. But I know that isn't possible, Relena would be home soon and I would have to go back to courting her around.

"I've never met anyone like you -" I murmur back "I think I feel the same." The smile that comes to his lips seemed to make everything melt away so it was just me and him.

I'm lost in a dream world for another 10 minutes before he announces that he'd better get going before Relena walks in on us. Now that would shake her up – I wouldn't mind her walking in on us just to see the reaction. He lightly kisses me on the lips before moving to stand. Holding out his hand, which I gratefully accept, he pulls me swiftly up from my seat and into his arms. I can feel him burying his head within my hair and taking in a deep breath.

A few moments later he pulls away and murmurs while looking quiet sad, "I'll see you tomorrow."

I nod my head and watch him leave suddenly noticing how cold the room actually is when I'm not in his warm arms. After tidying up the music room I return to the main part of my stupidly large house to find Relena is back and sitting with one of my sisters. She jumps up as she notices me approach and I instantly sigh – what I would give to be anywhere except here right now.

**TBC...**


	28. Evil Bitch

**Chapter 28**

**Evil Bitch**

**Relena POV**

"Dorothy for the last time, you do not turn to the left, it's the right!" I scream in anger at my soon to be ex-best friend, that's if she screws up my act one more time. We have 2 hours until the doors open and my act has to be perfect! I will not accept anything less!

"Sorry Relena." I hear her mumble as she gets back into line with Noin, Une and Sally. Trying to keep my calm I turn to my wonderful choreographer, Nick, and flash him a flirtatious smile. He grins in return and turns back to the tape player he'd stopped when Dorothy fucked everything up.

"Let's try again shall we ladies!" he calls in his slightly high pitched voice. Starting up the backing music in my home dance studio he shouts, "One, Two, Three, and Four!" And we begin as perfect as ever and Dorothy doesn't step out of line this time. I smile in success as I watch us dance in the mirror in front of us and we look sexy, sophisticated and down right perfect. There is no way the judges could not elect us the winners.

Nick turns the music off before braking out into applause, "That, my ladies is what we call a grade A performance, the others have no chance if you perform like that tonight."

"No one else has a chance anyway Nick." I state feeling almost offended that he could even think anyone would have a chance against us. "I always win, it's like tradition."

"Sure it is Lena." I hear someone purr from the hall doorway. Snapping towards the noise I find my arsehole brother leaning against the door frame with a sickening smirk on his face. Look at him standing there in his perfect white suit with his perfect blonde hair and blue eyes. I hate him! How can the guy even be related to me! We're nothing alike, he's such a two faced pompous pig!

"Millardo I never said you could come and watch my practice." I snarl with more hatred than I've felt in years – after all he did fuck my boyfriend. His smirk just widens and I can feel my blood boil.

"I thought I could do with a little humour," he says strolling into the room. "And you did not disappoint."

"My act is not funny." I say glaring daggers, "It is perfectly well structured from the music to the dance moves – nothing about it is funny." He just chuckles as he stops in front of me his ice blue eyes sparkling with humour. "Don't you dare mock me brother."

"But Relena -" he says pouting "you are so easy to mock."

"I hate you, you son of a bitch!" I snap which just amuses him some more. Millardo is the only person who can really annoy the living shit out of me. He's always been able to, since we were kids. I think he gets a kick out of it.

"Well, that's not a nice thing to say to your big brother AND P.E. Teacher," he drawls as he glances past me and eyes up Noin. Noin has always had a crush on my brother, and even since he became our P.E. Teacher at school it's gotten worse. I can see her cheeks redden in the mirrors.

"Why don't you get a real job like what Daddy wants you to?"

"Oh but that wouldn't be as fun as watching you fuck up your life." My eyes widen and I have to hold myself back from jumping on him.

"Get out!" I yell pointing to the door. "I can't have you in here, I need to practice."

"Damn right you need to practice."

"OUT!" I scream and his smirk returns as he backs away towards the door and disappears. I heave a huge sigh as I turn to my friends, a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry about my brother, he's the family outcast."

"You don't suppose he's right though?" Sally asks looking slightly worried, "do we need more practice, does our act suck?"

My eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets. Did she actually just say that?!

"I – I just meant, well, I've heard Duo is doing a live act and so many people around school are talking about it," she stutters.

"We don't have to worry about Duo Maxwell." I say with an evil smile. Yes, I had heard the rumours that Duo Maxwell was forming an army of helpers and naturally, I had thought up a plan. "For starters you know what the guy's like; he will probably freeze up on stage and run off crying!"

"But what happens if he doesn't?" Noin asks, "What happens if he's better than us?"

"Guys, we've been practising this act for months, he's had three days. He's probably just picked out a hymn from the bible to sing. We've made up our own song and we've got a brilliant dance routine. The judges are there to scout for talent and compared to Duo Maxwell we've got tones."

Flashing them a large smile I say, "And don't worry, I've got some tricks up my sleeve to make him look like the real idiot loser he really is." Anything to make Heero loose this bet!

"Oh Relena do share." Dorothy says with a sparkle in her eye. Dorothy loves to make people look bad.

"Well I was thinking I could trip him up using one of the wires on the stage, or cut his mike in the middle of his act." I ponder, "Or we could pay one of his band members to mess up the music."

"Relena you're so evil." Dorothy grins, "I love it."

"But -" Sally speaks up looking slightly concerned, "isn't that cheating?"

"Sally, I don't really give a fuck about cheating as long as we win." She looks at me long and hard before nodding her head.

"Right girls, I believe we only have about 1 hour before we need to get ready, so get in all the practise we can." Turning to Nick I tell him to hit play and we run through our routine once more and as expected, it is perfect.

**WuFei POV**

If you asked me two days ago what I thought of Duo Maxwell I would say a shy, idiotic kid whose soul purpose in life is to not have one. Well he's still idiotic – annoying as hell – but I can't help but admire his talent and his bravery for stepping up to Relena. Not even Yuy could do that. And maybe he is trying to have a life – I just never gave him enough attention before to notice.

You know, I've never known a guy who could talk so much shit. Within the 24 hours of actually spending time with him half the time I've wanted the kill myself while the other half I've been stunned to hell. How can one person affect another in that sort of way? I've never met someone who has changed my perceptions like he has. What the hell happened to the quiet guy from school – because he sure ain't in this room any more.

As we run through our last practice I get lost in the melody of the song which matched by the beautiful lyrics. I can't believe that on top of his voice Maxwell is such a talented song writer as well. OK so maybe I've enjoyed learning to play this song and spending time with these other people who I wouldn't have noticed before, and I suppose I can admit that Maxwell is actually a nice guy – even if he annoys the shit outta me at points, but I know that's just an act – I can see right through him. It's funny that he reminds me so much of Yuy in a way. Yuy's always so tight trying to hide what he's feeling but Maxwell seems to go the opposite way and goes a bit crazy just so people don't get the chance to look past all the bullshit to notice. Maybe they would be good for each other – if it weren't so gay.

The song finishes quietly and everyone claps as Trowa and our bassist Dean finish the last few notes. I can't help but worry about Trowa at sometimes, even though he's the biggest bastard by blackmailing into doing this shit, I can't help but want to pull him away from the whole situation–yeah I know I usually couldn't give two fucks about what him or Yuy do, but I generally believe this is going to end badly. Him getting involved with Quatre while all this Deal shit with Yuy and Relena is going on is a bad idea.

I watch silently as he gazes over at Quatre with **that** look in his eyes. Yup, something has definitely gone on. Perhaps I've left this talk too late to make a difference and stop the hurt and betrayal.

"Trowa, can I speak to you in private for a moment?" I say quietly making him jump slightly. Jesus the guy's in so deep.

"Sure," I lead him outside the music room and firmly close the door behind me. I can't risk people over hearing our conversation. He takes his place leaning on the wall opposite me, his arms crossed. "So what's up 'Fei?"

"Look -" I begin unsure of how I am going to phrase my next sentence without sounding like a sentimental idiot. I think he would actually die with shock. A week ago I really didn't care what was going on here, but now everything's changed. "I'm slightly worried about what's going on between you and Quatre."

"Nothing's-"

"Trowa, you could never bullshit me." I say glaring at him, feeling slightly offended that one of my best friends would actually try to lie to me.

He sighs, "OK, so maybe we're kinda seeing each other."

"Trowa don't you see the big red crosses, flashing lights and sirens telling you you're going into dangerous territory?" I ask feeling slightly frustrated. Running my hand over my tightly pulled ponytail I sigh, "you're getting involved with Yuy and Relena."

"I'm not involved in their stupid little game!" He almost yells before lowering his voice, "I'm with Quatre because I want to be with Quatre."

"From my point of view and surely Quatre's if he found out, it looks like you're helping Yuy win."

He scowls at me, "I've never planned to help Yuy win. Me and Quatre – we just happened."

"Haven't you thought about what is going to happen when all this shit finally comes out?" I ask. After all, it is going to come out one way or another. He must have thought about it, he can't be that thick.

"Of course I have! WuFei if I could, I would put an end to it now!" he exclaims, "Quatre doesn't deserve to be played the way he is and Duo -" he stops in mid sentence biting his lip, "- he actually has feelings for Heero."

"No shit." I heave a large sigh dropping my head into my hands. Why do people have to fuck up everything, why can't people just be normal! If Duo already likes Heero then I know exactly who's going to win the bet and who is going to end up hurt and betrayed, and I do not like it one bit.

"Trowa when this comes out – do you think Quatre will even look at you again?"

"I will not let the Deal come between me and Quatre."

"It already has, it had at the very beginning!"

"Quatre will know I had nothing to do with it."

"But you can't lie about knowing about it. I'm just as bad as you Trowa, I don't think Maxwell deserves to be played by Yuy - him pretending and using Maxwell's feelings just so he can get back with some stupid Onna! If Quatre finds out you knew about all that -"

Trowa's eyes shimmer with worry as he leans his head back against the wall, "I can't stay away from him now WuFei, I'm in to deep – I'm falling for him."

I shake my head. Since when did all this get so complicated?

"Trowa I -" I start before I lower my head as I realise they are all in too deep. "You know where I am when the shit hits the fan." He nods his head and I can see the anger in his eyes that he knows how wrong everything is.

"Heero will not give up on Relena." He says, "I've already asked him to."

"Yuy was never a quitter, we both know that."

"Aye." He murmurs before pushing away from the wall, "but there is one good thing we can do -" he smiles at me, "- we can help Duo kick Relena's ass in this talent show and show the school how amazing he actually is."

"You know what," I reply with a smirk, "I am so in. Maxwell's actually surprised me, I never expected him to be so good."

"He's a nice guy when you get to know him."

"I can tell." I say as I open the music room door and re-enter.

As the talent show draws nearer with just 1 hour to go till doors open we arrive at school to find the sound crew piling the final equipment out of some vans and the teachers chatting in the car park. I see Zechs' blonde head in the middle of the group before he turns and his eyes meet mine. Damn, and what's worse he looks amazing in his white suit.

Two seconds later he's making his way towards me as the others are ushered inside. I'm stuck to the floor unable to move as I am left on my own as the last person in the world I wanted to see steps up to me.

"Well, well WuFei, I always had you down to have a special talent." His purring tone told me he was thinking about something else.

"What do you want Zechs?" I snap irritably ignoring his comment – I don't think I can deal with any more worries and stress. He smiles at me, leaving me breathless. Fuck. Why can't you leave me alone?!

"Actually I came to warn you, well Maxwell in particular."

"Warn us?" I frown, " - Why?"

"Relena's planning to sabotage your act," he informs me, "I heard her screeching to the others about how she will win the contest even if she has to cheat."

I growl feeling anger bubble up inside me, "That fucking bitch." She really is heartless.

"She was planning to cut his mike wire, trip him up, or something along those lines." All of a sudden I feel a weird sort of respect for Zechs Marquise. He could have just let Relena get her way and make Maxwell look like a fool, but for some reason he doesn't want that to happen – and then I remember his little bet with Yuy. Perhaps he doesn't want Maxwell to make a fool of himself so Yuy will like him more. Why does everyone seem to be betting with each other?

"Thanks – I'll make sure nothing of the sort will happen."

His smile gets widens. "I'm sure you will," he purrs before walking off my eyes snap onto his ass before pulling themselves quickly away. I gulp rather loudly. Shit. Chang you do not like guys, you do not like guys! You're getting married remember, to a lovely girl – who happens to annoy the crap out of you and make you want to run to the colonies and never return – fuck.

Scurrying as fast as I can into the building to find the others I bump into Relena in the corridor. This night just keeps getting better and better.

"WuFei!" She says with obvious fake delight, placing her hand on my arm. What the fuck! Shaking it off with a glare I say exactly what I said to her brother 5 minutes ago.

"What do you want Relena?"

"Oh nothing, I was just thinking -" she drawls, eyeing me up. I feel like I want to puke, my fiancée is better than that! "would a cool, popular guy like yourself like to help me?"

"Relena, what do you want?"

"I want you to help me sabotage Duo's performance." My eyes widen as I take a step back away from her. She has got to be kidding me. "You know, you could play out of tune or trip him up, just something that will make him loose marks and look stupid."

"You are unbelievable." I murmur shaking my head

"I know, I know – well someone had to think of something!" She exclaims and I want to punch her – her, A WOMAN! "Ha! Like a geek like him could really think he has a chance against me! WuFei, we need to put him in his place, show him that choir geeks like him don't belong with the popular people."

"No -" I murmur feeling my anger burning up inside. "Relena, do you seriously think I would help you? For starters I hate you, and second, I'm part of Maxwell's act so making him look like a fool would mean making myself look like a fool."

"But -"

"Relena you win every year, why are you trying to sabotage Maxwell's act?"

"Because geeks like him need to be made a fool out of."

I raise an eyebrow at her, "I think you're just scared of loosing."

She laughs, or rather screeches, "I'm not scared of loosing! WuFei I win every year, I've beaten every act - like Maxwell stands a chance."

"OK, so win it this year. If Maxwell is no threat then you don't have to make him look stupid to win. That is, unless you think Maxwell is better than you."

"I DO NOT!" She yells with anger plainly visible on her face, "You just wait and see Chang WuFei. I will win this talent show. Duo can do his stupid act and we'll just see who's the best."

"Can't wait." I murmur, suddenly sick of all this shit, while all of a sudden feeling excited by the fact that she doesn't know that Duo will in fact kick her ass.

"Neither can I," she snarls before marching off towards the theatre while I race to the gym locker room to get ready with the others. I can already tell this night is going to be fucked up.

**TBC...**


	29. The Song

**A/N: **To everyone! Here's the chapter you've been waiting for, I've got one suggestion – if you do or don't know the songs download them and play them while your reading. The songs I have chosen are 'Touch My Body' by Mariah Carey for Relena and 'Iris' by the Goo Goo dolls for Duo (Not Ronan Keating, if any of you know who he is, he DESTORYED that song! Lol). Enjoy!

**Chapter 29**

**The Song**

**Duo POV**

I can't help but shake with fear as I take in the large school theatre, the sound team setting up all the equipment needed for the show and the seats slowly being filled with parents, students and teachers. Behind me the guys are chatting on as usual and don't seem to notice my sudden mental breakdown – I suddenly feel like I want to run and disappear but after today's practice and finally getting the performance to near enough perfect the guys are way too excited. It'd be practically suicide if I backed out now.

I rub my sweaty palms on the outfit Quatre had gone out and bought me. To say I was surprised is an understatement and it just makes me appreciate the guy so much more. At least I now don't have to stand in front of the whole community wearing grotty old clothes that some of them had probably donated. I actually look nice.

Suddenly someone's hand lands on my shoulder making me jump slightly. Turning I find WuFei to my left his eyes also on the growing crowd.

"You nervous?" He asks coolly. I nod my head. To my surprise a warm smile comes to his face, "Don't worry about it. You know Maxwell I can say with confidence that you are one of the best singers I've ever heard."

"You're joking-" I murmur my eyes widening with shock. Chang WuFei is for the second time in two days complimenting me! I must have died!

"I don't joke." He states, "I just recognise talent when I hear it and you've definitely got talent."

"Thanks -" I sigh, feeling slightly better about the situation. He nods his head before turning to make his way back stage but I grab his arm before he moves out my range. "I – I haven't actually said thank you to you yet."

He turns to me shaking his head, "And you don't have to. Maxwell you've made me realise things and grow up a lot within 24 hours, it can take shrinks years to do that to some people. I'm the one who should be saying thank you for letting me play for you-" Jesus Christ what the hell is going on? "And I wanted to say sorry – I never gave you much credit before – I hope you win tonight – you're a nice guy."

"Thanks Fei."

"I mean it Maxwell." He says before scowling at me, "and don't call me Fei it's WuFei, Wu-Fei"

"Sure thing Wufeina."

"Maxwell!" I flash him a grin and he rolls his eyes before marching off back stage. Taking one last look at the crew I take a large deep breath before following WuFei. As I get back stage my ears are instantly assaulted by a mixture of instruments and people singing. My eyes spy Relena in the back with Dorothy, Sally, Noin and Une and I instantly want to puke when I see their outfits – or lack of.

Dorothy, Sally, Noin and Une are all dressed in tiny black corset sets with fish net tights and high heels while Relena is in the same outfit, however hers is Pink. They do have a little modesty however since they're all wearing silk night robes. I just hope they don't take them off when they go on stage.

Relena's blue eyes suddenly notice me and two seconds later she is making her way over to me – great. She has a massive grin on her face as she approaches and I can't help but feel angry. She set me up here thinking I'm going to make a fool outta myself, well I not going to. I'm going to prove her very, very wrong. Suddenly gaining all the determination I need to win this damn show I even grin back at her – very sarcastically. This makes hers hesitate slightly – yeah fuck you Miss Bitch.

"Duo – I can't believe you actually turned up!" She exclaims coming across as fake as her stick on nails.

"Well I am entered into the show." I state the obvious before adding, "I'm so thankful someone entered me – I've been wanting to enter for years." A slight frown appears on her face for a second.

"So – erm, what you singing?" She asks looking at the guitar case I have slung over my shoulder.

"Just something I made up – you?"

"Oh I had mine written by the Sanc's top song artist – it's a brilliant song, I feel so honoured to be singing it." She says confidently, and very smugly.

"Well I need to get in some last minute practice before the show starts so-" I offer out my hand, "may the best person win."

She raises her eyebrows at me and doesn't take me hand. In fact she looks at it as if it's been covered in shit.

"Duo, you and I both know I'm going to win." She states. Not if I can help it. If I win I have a date with your ex! "So let's just say, I hope you enjoy your two seconds of fame."

"Sure Relena." I sigh and roll my eyes behind her back as she saunters back to her group. Now she really doesn't have a chance. My eyes narrow as I feel my confidence surge.

30 minutes later the show starts as the head teacher makes his way onto the stage. Another hour passes as numerous acts make their way onto the stage ranging from dance groups, acrobats, comedians – who were awful I must add – and a few single artists.

Glancing through the stage curtains I find the theatre brimming with people, every seat full and even a few people were standing in the aisles. On the left hand side of the stage I spy Heero leaning moodily against the wall, his arms firmly crossed glaring at the current act on the stage. He still thinks I'm mad to be doing this, but then again he doesn't know the truth.

The act finishes and the audience clap boredly as they leave the stage. The head teacher comes back on and announces the next act – Relena and her group of sluts. The audience clap suddenly very enthusiastically as the girls walk on stage. There are a few catcalls from the crowd and I can see that Heero's eyes have widened as he takes in the scene. Great – he's getting the show of his life and I know he's going to enjoy Relena's act more than mine.

Relena nods to someone off stage and suddenly a twinkling, very girly melody booms from the speakers – well there's one up to me my act is fully live. The girls strut around the stage in their underwear as the music continues a very boring beat.

Centring the stage Relena batters her fake stuck on lashes at the crowd as she gingerly holds the microphone in her two hands.

"**I know that you've been waiting for it I'm waiting too. In my imagination I'd be all up on you.  
I know you got that fever for me, hundred and two."** She sings – or should I saw whine, almost a little too quickly. Obviously it's not only me whose nervous.** "And boy I know I feel the same my temperature's through the roof."**

She suddenly points off to one side of the stage before putting her hand above her eyes as if searching for something - **"If there's a camera up in here then it's gonna leave with me when I do -I do."** She turns to the other side and does the same movements looking very robotic and almost as if she's a Nazi solider standing to attention. **"If there's a camera up in here then I'd best not catch this flick on YouTube - YouTube."**

As she continues to sing the other girls stand behind her doing what looks like a supposed suggestive dance – however compared to the ones I see and perform every Saturday it looks as if they've just shit their pants.

"**'Cause if you run your mouth and brag about this secret rendezvous, I will hunt you down." **She pretends to shoot someone in the audience while pouting and fluttering her eyelashes.** "'Cause they be all up in my business like a Wendy Interview. But this is private between you and I."**

**"Touch my body!"** The girls suddenly slap their hands on their chests before running them seductively down their bodies. **"Put me on the floor, wrestle me around, play with me some more."** They throw their heads back and swing their hair around. **"Touch my body, throw me on the bed, I just wanna make you feel like you never did."**

Relena returns to her slags and the 5 of them do a dance routine as they all sing together sounding almost like screeching cats. To be honest Dorothy dancing and singing suggestively is my worst nightmare.

"**Touch my body, let me wrap my thighs, all around your waist, just a little taste. Touch my body, know you love my curves, come on and give me what I deserve and touch my body!"**

**  
"Boy you can put me on you like a brand new white tee, I'll hug your body tighter than my favourite jeans."** Relena starts to strut around the stage her hips moving to the music as the other girls follow her. I feel like I want to scream and kill the choreographer she's supposedly hired as I watch the very poor dance routine. **"I want you to caress me like a tropical breeze and float away with you in the Caribbean Sea"**

"**If there's a camera up in here then it's gonna leave with me when I do -I do." **She pouts as she says the words while pretending to cool herself down by fanning her hand in front of her face. The other girls copy her exact movements and I almost want to laugh out loud – she is never going to win with this performance after they see mine.** "If there's a camera up in here then I'd best not catch this flick on YouTube - YouTube."  
**

"**Touch my body!" **They all sing as they run their hands through their already messy hair before pulling off their robes seductively – oh dear. **"Put me on the floor, wrestle me around, play with me some more. Touch my body, throw me on the bed, I just wanna make you feel like you never did."**

Glancing off to where Heero is standing I want to burst out into laughter as I find him having his hand covering his face and turned towards the wall so he can't watch the display. I guess he's thinking exactly what I'm thinking. What does she think she's doing dancing in front of the school wearing practically nothing and singing about fucking someone – you only do that in certain places - as I would know.

"**Touch my body, let me wrap my thighs, all around your waist, just a little taste. Touch my body, know you love my curves, come on and give me what I deserve and touch my body!"**

**"I'm gonna treat you like a teddy bear you won't wanna go nowhere in the lap of luxury baby just turn to me." **She sings as she swings her hips around, her knickers riding up her arse as she does so – nice. **"You won't want for nothing boy, I will give you plenty, touch my body!"**

The girls continue to sing** "Touch my body!" **while Relena's screeching gets louder as she starts to sing over the top of them other parts of the chorus. Scrap what I said earlier about the choreographer, I want to kill the song writer.

"**Oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah, oh yeah oh yeah, oh oh oh oh yeah,"** they all sing before saying one last time while feeling themselves up they sing - **"Touch my body..."** - now that's what I call a cry for attention.

**Heero POV**

I watch as Relena happily parades off the stage and make her way over to me - I cringe while I thank the lord that the screeching is finally over. She smirks at me, she knows she's won. It's not only that she has worn the skimpiest outfit in the world it's just a fact that she does every year.

Duo's up next and I can feel my chest contracting at what is about to happen. Duo Maxwell's social life is officially going to be over after his performance – not that he had much of one in the first place. There are a few sniggers and 'Choir geek' shouts from the crowd and to my surprise I give the offenders the best glare I can muster. Duo walks swiftly out onto the stage and I almost wince as he nearly trips on the microphone wire until I notice almost an army of people that follow him on and amongst them is Trowa and WuFei – what the fuck?

The insult calling instantly stops as everyone notices my two best friends up there and I instantly get confused glances thrown my way. Don't look at me people, I had nothing to do with them being up there. If I had a say in this, they would be nowhere near this place.

I glance at Relena only to find her doubling over with laughter, she has me right where she wants me – my rep ruined, my friends reps ruined, Duo's life ruined – I hate her. This was between me and her, now she's just crossed the line. Nobody harms my friends and a harmless orphan. I feel like I want to run up onto the stage and pull them all off there, however I know that would just cause more gossip and more of an uproar.

I watch in agony as Trowa picks up a weird looking guitar and WuFei sits behind the drum set at the back of the stage. Why are they doing this! Why do they want to commit social suicide as well! What the hell is wrong with them?! Both of them have their eyes on me and are smirking, thus confusing the hell outta me. Why do they look so damn proud to be up there?!

Duo takes centre stage with his electric guitar and strums the strings lightly to see if they are in tune. Today he looks exceptionally better than he usually does. Dressed in a black shirt and jeans with a studded belt, no glasses and a nice looking, no doubt expensive black hat – it's probably Quatre's. He looks almost normal, no, he looks better than normal – he looks – stop your train of thought there Yuy.

Turning to his crew behind him Duo asks if they are ready. Everyone gives him a confirming nod. I can feel my heart beating wildly in my chest as I wait for their doom and all of a sudden I'm wishing I could grab Duo and run for the hills. Even though he is the biggest geek in the school, he doesn't deserve this.

He turns his attention back to the microphone making sure it's secure before turning slightly towards Trowa and murmuring a count.

On one they strike their strings and smile at each other. They begin to play a melody together perfectly as if they have been practising for weeks. Frowning I watch as Duo again turns back to the microphone his eyes scanning over the completely silent crowd as everyone waits expectantly.

Closing his violet eyes as WuFei starts a slow drum beat and another guy begins on base, he groans **" - and I´d give up forever to touch you."** And I feel my heart stop at his perfect voice. **"´Cause I know that you feel me somehow." **

His head lulls slight to his left as he sings with all the emotion possible and I feel like I can't breathe, **" - you´re the closest to heaven that I´ll ever be, and I don´t wanna go home right now."**

Opening his eyes he sings, **"And all I can taste is your sweetness." **Strumming the strings on his guitar he leans into the microphone with a large grin on his face. **"And all I can breathe is your life -"** He continues to sing his voice perfect and matching each note as his eyes travel around the room taking in everyone's faces and no doubt their reactions. **"And sooner or later it´s over - I just don´t wanna miss you tonight."**

**"And I don´t want the world to see me!"** He sings his voice raw with emotion as he strums his guitar harder. He almost has a pained look on his face as he sings, punctuating every single word as if they meant the world to him.

"**´Cause I don´t think that they'd understand! When everything´s made to be broken -" **Suddenly his eyes snap over and land on me and I feel like a stunned deer in front of a cars headlight as he sings - **"I just want you to know who I am."**

The music slows down again as Duo continues his eyes drifting off to take a look around the silent room while I wish my heart would calm down and not try and beat itself out of my chest. But it doesn't happen and I can't help the feeling which is growing as I watch him play. To my left I can see Relena has the look of horror on her face while Dorothy has gone as white as a ghost. To be honest, I don't think any of us were expecting Duo to be this good with just three days of practice.

"**And you can´t fight the tears that ain't coming or the moments of truth in your lies. When everything feels like the movies - "**

Suddenly Trowa leans into his microphone and harmonises with him,**" - yeah, you bleed just to know you´re alive!"**

**"And I don't want the world to see me," **he sings with a passion, while WuFei continues to drum and some of the others begin to play softly. **"'Cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am!"**

The music slows down for a bit as the others get ready to join in. I watch as Duo turns to Trowa and grins the two of them playing perfectly together and then he turns to WuFei who nods in return. Suddenly a few other people begin to play their instruments and Quatre begins on his violin. I can feel my chest contracting as the beautiful music gets louder and more dramatic with a twinkling piano in the background played by some random person I've never noticed before. I notice a few people's mouths in the audience have dropped at the sight as Duo continues to strum perfectly and like a professional on his guitar.

His eyes land on me again and I find I can't pull myself away. This whole time I've been doubting him, thinking he couldn't do anything just because of his social status – how wrong and stupid had I been. All my life I've been led to think that the popular people where the only talent in school while all this time Duo has been harbouring this, not only that but he can dance better than most people and I can't deny that he isn't kind and considerate when it comes to others especially the children at the Maxwell church – and he expects nothing in return. I guess Trowa was right about me. I want to kick myself as I think of all the times I have insulted Duo and thought badly of him because I know now he doesn't deserve anything like that. And I'm a stupid prick to even think myself superior to him.

Duo's guitar suddenly gets louder as he passionately continues to play. Everyone behind him have the look of concentration on their faces as they try to keep in time with each other. The school theatre continues to echo at the sounds of the live instruments and Duo's electric guitar completely opposite to Relena's pitiful display. I think everyone knows that what we are currently listening to is real talent.

Suddenly the music grows very quiet with just Trowa playing a few strings and Duo lightly strumming. His eyes land on me again full of emotion and all of a sudden it feels like it's only us two in the room as everyone else seems to melt away. He has a small smile on his face and for a second he almost reminds me of – don't be so silly Yuy.

" **- And I don't want the world to see me,"** he suddenly sings at the top of his lungs as everyone begins to play again, making my chest contract at the beauty of his voice and of the song. I feel like I can't breathe as I watch him and for some reason if feels like every word is aimed towards me as his gaze never wavers. I can feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I keep his gaze. What the hell is happening to me? Do I actually like Duo Maxwell?

"**'Cause I don't think that they'd understand, when everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am!"** The beautiful music continues to capture the hearts of everyone in the room as Duo's singing sends them over the edge.

"**And I don't want the world to see me, 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand!"** His rough voice strains emotionally as he continues, **"When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am!" **

"**I just want you to know who I am!"** He sings again his eyes on me – aiming his words at me, and for some reason I feel like I've heard his singing voice before - **"I just want you to know who I am!"**

Dropping his gaze down to look sadly at the audience he murmurs, "**I just want you to know who I am...**" The music continues softly before it drifts off with just Trowa and the bassist finishing the last few notes of the song.

The room falls silent for a second before everyone jumps out of their seats in applause. Duo's eyes widen as he takes in the crowd while Trowa and Quatre have come to his side to bow. The crowd continues to cheer as a smile comes to Duo's face and he bows causing the cheering to get even louder. They walk themselves off stage only to be replaced by the head teacher.

"Wow – guys just, - wow!" He murmurs shaking his head, "I don't suppose we even need to think over who the winners are do we judges?"

"With a performance like that," I hear Mr Kershaw say happily. "There is no doubt Duo Maxwell and band are the winners of Sanc Highs Talent Show!"

The crowd scream and clap while to my left I notice Relena's eyes have widened as she angrily turns to Dorothy and slaps her in the face – really don't want to know wants going on there but the look on Relena's face is priceless.

They called Duo and the other's back to the stage and hand them a large looking trophy. Duo's mouth falls open in shock as the crowd cheers madly while Trowa and Quatre grab Duo's arms and lift them up so he is holding the trophy above his head. Despite not actually wanting him to win so I wouldn't have to fulfil my part of the bet – I'm glad he did and now I think I'm actually looking forward to it.

**TBC...**


	30. A Perfect Night

**A/N : **Hey everyone, I thought I'd tell you that the next chap wont be out until the 10th of June, I've got veeerrry important exams at the moment so I don't really have time to write. It's half done, but then I have to finish it off an send it to my beta - but i will make its an extra special chapter :) So don't think that I've abonded this fic because that will never happen! :P hope you enjoy! x

**Chapter 30**

**A Perfect Night**

**Duo POV**

Holy Shit Mother of God (Sorry Lord)! I won! I kicked Relena's God awful performance! I can't believe it.

I think I'm still in the state of shock as I get pulled back off the stage holding a large trophy the size of my head. I can hear the others chanting and screaming in excitement but I stay silent. I won – or should I say we won. Without their help I wouldn't even be here – this definitely wouldn't have been happening.

"Duo, Duo!" Quatre calls over the shouts and screams, "We have to celebrate!"

"Let's all go for celebratory drinks!" Trowa says happily his green eyes dancing with joy.

"Not tonight." I hear someone speak up and everyone parts as the one and only Heero Yuy comes strolling up. I instantly feel a blush spread across my cheeks before the panic strikes. Did he recognize my voice; does he know who I am? To lost in my erratic thoughts I almost miss his next words so quiet that only Quatre and Trowa got to hear, "he has a date with me."

Holy Fuck – Sorry Lord - a date. He said it. The four letter word! Can this night get any better?! Wait a minute I basically told him my feelings out there, between the song and the heated stares – I think he knows or at least suspects. But shouldn't he be running for the hills or beating the crap outta me?

I think I might be having a cardio arrest.

"Duo?" Almost. "Duo." By the time I snap out my state Heero's shaking my shoulders. "Earth to Duo, you still want to go out – don't you?" A slightly worried look comes to his face.

"I – I – I – Yes!" I cry almost slapping myself, Maxwell you're such a loser when it comes to Heero.

"Great. Tro, you can take care of this." Trowa nods his head too absorbed in his staring match with Quatre to notice as Heero pulls me out of my seat and out the theatre. By the time he has sat me in his beautiful sports car everything catches up.

Shit. Me. Heero. A restaurant – maybe a posh restaurant. I've never eaten food from a real restaurant – well I've stolen food from them in the past but I wouldn't count that. At least I'm kind of sure he still doesn't know I'm Shinigami – if he did he probably would have run for the hills. I watch as he rounds the car and gracefully gets into his seat. Turning to me his deep blue eyes gaze into mine and I feel a blush spread across my cheeks – heh great.

"Where you wanna go?" He asks his voice as perfect as always. Where do I wanna go? I don't really care as long as it's with you.

"I've never been to a real restaurant -" I begin and see the shocked look come to his face, "so I don't really know anywhere that's good."

"Duo – I" He begins before shaking his head. He looks thoughtfully out the window for a moment before he turns the ignition and the car engine roars to life. Glancing towards me, he says with a small smile on his lips, "I know the perfect place."

Swinging the car out of it's parking space and taking off down and out of the school car park I silently hold onto my seat for dear life as the car speeds up to 100mph. As we zoom past houses, shops and parks making our way through the North Sanc, my mind frantically tries to search for a conversation starter.

"So I'm guessing you liked my performance?" I say very lamely. Maxwell you really are a loser.

Heero chuckles lightly, "Duo your performance was like watching some famous celebrity. Have you ever thought of doing it as a job?" I almost laugh out loud. Have I ever thought of doing it as a job? I do it every Saturday AS my job!

"A little bit," I murmur all of a suddenly feeling guilty. Shaking it off I ask, "What did you think of the other acts?"

"I swear people do the same things every year." Heero grumbles miserably, "Dave Frostings has told the same jokes every year since primary school."

"I know! I don't understand why he does that!" I exclaim as I think about the weird boy with his crazy red hair before I ask the question I've been itching to ask since we got in the car. "And Relena's?" I see him physically cringe as I mention Relena's performance.

"Don't even remind me." I have to laugh at that. Relena didn't even impress her ex-boyfriend. Oh the shame. I watch silently as he slows the car down – thank god – for a speed camera before I suddenly realise were we are – and I feel sick.

My eyes land on the magnificent building of the old palace. There's still a lot of work to be done, however it's not the building that first draws my attention it's the old rusting front gates. My hands clench tightly into fists as I try to keep my cool. I notice the thick chains holding them closed while there is a large sign announcing if anyone is caught on the property they will be escorted off and fined. I turn my attention away from them, trying to take deep breaths to calm myself. I don't want bad memories to ruin this night.

Half the actual building has scaffolding all around it while the brick work is mostly covered in wild ivy. Most of the windows are still intact however some of them have been broken, probably by the gangs who used to go to the abandoned palace to drink. The place still looks magnificent – even if it is a dump at the moment. Just think, when the elections are over and the place is finished Relena and her family are most probably going to be living there.

I feel relieved as we make distance between us and the palace. Heero finally pulls off the main road and down a small, almost empty, street at the end of which is a small French restaurant. I love French food – well Sister Helen makes wonderful croissants – that's French right? Heero stops the car and turns to me.

"I hope you're hungry."

"Heero I'm always hungry." I reply feeling my stomach growl as I look through the restaurant window at a couple currently eating something that looked like a slug ewe. Apart from that the restaurant looks quiet, romantic and very expensive. Well, what else could I expect from the North Sanc? I don't think we have any up-market restaurants in the South.

Getting out the car I follow Heero into the building and I instantly become extremely nervous as I realise what I'm about to get myself into. The tables are laid with brilliant white cotton and have about 10 knives, forks and spoons around the dinner plates. Shit.

"A table for two please." I hear Heero ask in his perfect conservative voice as I instantly wonder if I sound too common for a place like this. No, I know I'm too common for a place like this. My legs feel like jelly as I follow Heero and the waiter, who is dressed like a million dollar butler, to our secluded table. The man lights the candle in the middle as we take our seats. My heart is thumping in my chest as he hands us a menu each and I take a look at just the starters. Two things come to mind; one is what the fuck is 'Escargots Bourguignonne' and two who the hell in their right mind would pay nearly £20 for a starter!

I have to balance the menu on the table so Heero can't see how much my hands are shaking. Five minutes later he speaks.

"You know what you want?" I have to bite my lip as I hide behind the large menu while I look over it again, not really understanding what the hell most of it means. Why don't they write the menu in English for God's sake! A moment later Heero's hand pulls the object away from my face with a small smirk. "You don't understand it do you."

I open my mouth to protest but I don't lie – I never lie. "No."

He smiles and I feel my heart skip a beat, "You ever tried snails?"

"Snails?!" What the fuck-

"Or frogs legs?"

"You're kidding me-" I utter as he points to some weird French item on the starter menu.

"If you haven't tried them before I suggest you do." He offers, "You might like them."

"Frogs legs and snails-" Who are these people! "I suppose I could try frog's legs-"

"Great choice." He says glancing back at his own menu. I decide to do 'eanie meanie mineie mo' on the mains and just suffer the consequences if it happens to be something like slugs. Heero calls the waiter over and orders our food before asking for a bottle of champagne.

"We are celebrating after all," he adds and I think, from the look on his face, that for the first time he's generally happy to be in my company.

"You know Heero -" I begin as the waiter disappears again. "You really didn't have to take me out, or you could have just taken me to Mc Donalds for a burger or something."

He rolls his eyes at the word Mc Donalds. A guy in his shape probably boycotts the place.

"Duo -" he says but stops, I can tell from the look on his face he is trying to find the words to say. "I just feel like after everything – the talent show, looking after the kids, looking after me - you deserve this."

"Wow." I murmur in slight disbelief, what the hell - "you know no one has ever said anything like that to me before." A sad almost guilty look comes to his face as he registers my words. The waiter returns with a large bottle of champagne and pours us both a large bubbly glass full before setting the bottle in a cooler bucket beside us.

"I also thought it would be a good way for us to get together and talk." Great, more talking about me.

"So what do you want to know?" I ask as I take a sip of the golden drink. It slips too easily down my throat indicating that it's probably top-notch booze.

"Wanna tell me why you always wear a hat?" I nearly spit the drink back into my cup. What a great impression that would give in a place like this. Then it hits me – does he know? Is that why he's asking?

"That's err- a bit of an irrelevant question."

"It's just you've always worn one, I was just wondering why," he says his deep blue eyes staring intensely at me.

"I have bad hair – greasy and knotty." I say quickly hoping he would change the subject.

His gaze never wavers and for a second I thought he'd put two and two together and worked it out. "- OK." He continues, "What have been your best experiences at the church?"

I smile. I have so many. Too many. To say the night went fast from then on would be an understatement and for the first time in his company I felt like I could speak to him without feeling like the biggest loser in the world. He actually looked interested in everything I told him, from how I built the tree house, down to how we pick which bunk the kids are going to have.

There's only so much you can tell about a guy from his appearance. Heero Yuy is hot as hell, the perfect guy and I've had a crush on him since forever. But when you get to know someone and you start to talk, you start to look past all the usual stuff and then your feeling start to run deep. As I sit here now I suddenly think about what's going to happen when all this is over and he's gone and I go back to being a nobody. It makes my heart ache.

His eyes twinkle as he talks now, telling me stories about him, Trowa and WuFei and all the crazy things they used to get up to. I don't understand why I was so worried about this date before, because the posh restaurant doesn't seem to bother me any more, the food is great, and conversation is flowing like a waterfall. The alcohol's probably helping – he keeps ordering bottle after bottle of champagne. That's probably going to leave a large hole in his pocket.

By the end of the evening after Heero buying yet another bottle to take home with us (I guess he really likes the stuff) we're both tipsy and decide to get a cab home. That meant walking up the small street to the main road.

"So did you know Relena's act was going to be so awful?" I ask grinning from ear to ear – OK so tipsy was the wrong word, I'm pretty much drunk.

"I think she was trying too hard this year." He says before drunkenly covering his face – yeah I think Heero is as well. "I nearly died in embarrassment."

"You're not the only one. I think I nearly wet myself when they all started dancing." I suddenly started to strut ahead of Heero doing my best impression of Relena while singing, "Touch my body!" I could hear Heero's deep laugh as he followed me up the small street just as a group of guys rounded the corner at the other end.

"Dorothy's the worst dancer in the world!" he chuckles his blue eyes never leaving my form.

"Touch my body!" I screech in a Relena voice slapping my hands on my chest seductively and mimicking the dance they did earlier. Heero's laugh just gets louder. We drunkenly stagger past the group of guys however my heart stops as I recognise one of them and I instantly sober up.

I notice him stop as we pass before turning to his group of guys. They start to mutter things to each other as we continue to walk off with Heero still in fits of drunken laughter.

"It's him." I hear one say and that's my queue to grab Heero's hand in hast and yank him into a sprint. His eyes widen as he glances behind.

"GET HIM!" One of them yells and I feel my heart beat like a train. Shit. Shit! Why did this have to happen tonight? Just your luck hey Maxwell!

Heero's instantly gone into survival mode and has pulled me down a small alley away. We run as fast as we can. I can hear their footsteps echoing behind us as I pray to God that they don't catch us. If we can just keep going maybe they will run out of breath and give up. Yeah fat chance Maxwell! You know what these guys are like.

I can see out the corner of my eye that Heero is looking for an escape and all of a suddenly he yanks me down into a underpass and through another alleyway. Stopping by a large wooden fence he pulls back a loose fitting and hisses "Go!" I move swiftly through the gap and he follows. The wood slides perfectly back into place.

We stand in silence, trying to silence our harsh breathing as their footsteps get louder and louder before they pass and head off down the road. We stand there in total silence for 10 minutes before Heero ushers me around and then I realise were we are. The old palace grounds. Holy fuck.

I stare up at the magnificent structure as Heero jogs towards it, glancing over his shoulder he calls softly for me to follow him which I do, though reluctantly. He rounds the building before approaching a small back door – probably to the servant quarters. He kicks the door open with one shift movement. Entering the building I gasp at the beautiful architecture. We'd actually come through the servant entrance to the main ballroom and I can feel my eyes bulging at how big the place was.

However before I can take in all of its beauty Heero's spun me around to face him looking slightly angered and very flustered from the run.

"What the fuck just happened?" he demanded his voice sounding worn and still slightly slurred. My heart still feels like its going to beat out of my chest as I bite my lip. Maybe it's now or never – I have to tell him about my past, after all I nearly just got him killed. The thought of him dying because of me makes me feel sick. He deserves a real explanation.

"I guess you're getting your wish tonight Heero-" I begin as I take a seat on one of the steps leading up to where the thrones probably would be situated. "Before Father Maxwell found me, I lived on the streets and I was part of a gang named the Scythes." I watch as his face goes from shocked to concern, "I've been a street brat since I can remember."

"What happened to your mother and father?" He asks, looking slightly confused. Of course he's wondering about them.

"I haven't got a clue – I was found wondering around the streets at a young age. They probably just dumped me and took off." I say feeling anger bubble up inside. No, they don't deserve to even have me feel anything for them. "The Scythe gang took me in and I lived with them until Father Maxwell found me."

"So what was their problem?"

"Don't you remember? The North hates the South. They were part of our rival gang who, as you can tell, hated our guts-" I wonder off not wanting to remember what actually happened to me and the others in the past.

"Where are the other's now?" There we go. He asked the dreaded question – there's no way I can even think about what happened let alone speak about it.

"I -" I begin but don't know what to say to get myself out of the situation. "Heero, this may sound weird to you – but I physically and mentally can't handle to talk about them." I see him frown within the darkened room.

"I understand." And for some unknown reason I actually believe he does. Taking in a deep calming breath he looks around the large ballroom. "I guess we should hide out in here until we know the coast is clear."

I nod my head in agreement. It was a good idea but Heero really doesn't understand how much danger we could be in. Raising from my seat and stumbling a bit (yeah, running equals less oxygen to go around the body which equals me feeling more drunk than before) I wonder down the long room and stop in the middle. Dropping my head back I stare up at the colossal ceiling before closing my eyes – and then the room spins.

I hear Heero chuckle lightly, "You look like you're going to fall over."

"I feel like I'm going to fall over." I reply opening my eyes while trying to steady myself. "Imagine living in a place like this." I say turning my attention back to Heero only to find him staring at me in a weird sort of way. A blush instantly spreads across his face. Was he eyeing me up?

"Relena will be soon -" he murmurs walking towards me and then I'm instantly reminded of my dream. Me dancing in a ballroom with some mysterious guy – perhaps the guy was Heero. He stops next to me and we both stand there in silence just drinking in the beauty of the room, from the marble stone floor to the creamy white walls covered in red swirly patterns.

"How did you know how to get through the fence?" I ask suddenly

"We used to drink in the gardens in the summer -" he tells with a small smile, "just so the cops wouldn't see." I smile. "Anyway speaking of drink," he holds up the bottle of champagne he'd brought before we left, "we could drink this, since we have time to kill."

"Are you trying to kill me Yuy," I murmur as Heero pulls out his pocket pen knife and opens it using the corkscrew, "that stuffs lethal!"

"Chicken?" He smirks drunkenly staggering a bit on the spot.

"I'm no chicken." I answer with a grin while holding out my hand. He hands me the bottle and I take a large swig.

So that's how we spent the rest of the night – well kinda. I kind of collapsed on the floor in the middle of the ballroom which ended up with the two of us lying in the middle of the dance floor staring up at the beautiful ceiling talking crap which didn't make much sense but ended up with the two of us laughing so much that we nearly cried.

It's weird to think that this is actually happening, that Heero Yuy, Sanc Highs most popular guy is lying next to me, joking about this and that and having a good time. I've never once seen Heero act like this at school, I thought he was Mr Serious, however tonight he's just been like a normal guy – and it's making me like him so much more. Maybe the alcohol's affected us too much. Maybe in the morning he will return to normal – I pray to God that he doesn't.

Our laughter dies down and suddenly we are lying in silence. The next thing I know Heero's drunkenly rolled onto his side next to me, with his deep intense eyes staring a hole into the side of my face.

"I'm sorry," the words are whispered so quietly that I nearly miss them. Turning my head to the side I frown.

"For what?"

"I -" He stops and frowns. Then, looking slightly uncertain he says, "- I misjudged you when I first met you, I thought you were some typical geek – basic, you know? But now I know -"

"HEY YOU THERE!" There is a loud shout as some flash lights shine into the darkened room. Fuck – the night guard. "YOU DAMN KIDS, ALWAYS BREAKING INTO THIS PLACE!!"

Before I've even had chance to move Heero's yanked me off the floor and is pulling me in the direction of the servants door we entered through. Running as fast as we could we exit through the fence again and take off towards the main road to get a taxi. He flags one down with ease and when we are both safe within it's quarters we burst into laughter. With the moonlight glistening through the small car windows onto his perfect form he looks once again like an angel. It's ironic to think that Shinigami has fallen in love with an Angel, and I know right at that moment that going back to normal after all this will be nearly impossible.

**TBC...**


	31. Parents

**Chapter 31**

**Parents**

**Heero POV**

Groggily waking up Saturday morning I instantly know I've over slept and glancing at my mobile phone confirms that for the second time here I've slept till nearly two in the afternoon. Not exactly morning like I thought.

Rubbing my sleepy eyes I sit up and am instantly assaulted with a killer headache. Well that's what you get Yuy, if you drink too my champagne – but the night was worth it. Last night was the most fun I'd had in ages, starting from Relena absolutely humiliating herself (she's so egotistic she won't even notice), and going to Duo and my date – the getaway and confessions - it was near enough perfect. Have you ever heard the saying don't judge a book by its cover? It seems I've been doing that most of my life and if I had just dismissed Duo that would have been the biggest mistake of my life.

Last night showed me how different people can be talented, fun and easy going. I don't think I'll judge another person by appearance ever again.

With resistance I pull myself out of bed and make my way through the bunk house hoping the nuns will have a jug of coffee going in the kitchens. Jogging across the lawn and into the church I am instantly assaulted with the smell of fresh coffee brewing – something I've always been able to smell from afar when I've got a hangover. I'm like a moth to a flame when it comes to coffee the morning/afternoon after a night out.

Entering the kitchens I find the Nuns all gathered together gossiping and I can hear both Duo's and my name being mentioned. I cough loudly to get their attention and they instantly all break apart – yeah guilty as sin and caught in the act!

"Heero!" Sister Helen pipes up quickly, "how – er – what are you doing in here?"

"I was wondering if you had any spare coffee going?"

She smiles before grabbing a mug off the side, "we've always got spare coffee."

"Great," I'm so happy at the moment I even smile back. As she pours me a mug she glances at me out the corner of her eye.

"So, you and Duo were out late last night -" begins the nosey nun, "Have fun? Words around that Duo won the talent show and you two went out to celebrate."

"Yes he did win, he was amazing." I answer truthfully, he was more than amazing. "We went to a restaurant in the North."

"How nice of you to take him out," she replies as she fills up another mug alongside mine before passing the two to me. "Duo isn't up yet – I was hoping you could wake him up with this."

I nod, "Sure thing, see you around ladies."

"Bye Heero." They all call, and I bet you as soon as I'm out of range they will be gossiping again.

I make my way back to the bunk house again – across the lawn and into the main building, pass the main bunk room and down the corridor. I knock twice on Duo's door as I reach it.

"Two seconds." I hear him groan. There's a bit of banging on the other side before the door is pulled slightly open. The room inside is dark, he has his curtains drawn and I can tell by the look on his face he feels just as bad as I do. I'd smirk if it didn't hurt to show any expressions on my face. And then I notice he's wearing old grey pj bottoms that are two big for him and are sliding down his slender waist – and then his slightly toned body. Oh.

His eyes light up seeing the steaming mug of coffee in my hands.

"Heero you're a legend," he moans grabbing the mug from my hands. I'm frozen to the spot at I stare at his body and he doesn't even notice. "You wanna come in?"

"Huh?" My eyes snap up to meet his and he's smirking – shit he noticed – and he's inviting me in? Shouldn't he have slammed the door in my face?

Not really knowing if I want to go in or not my mouth answers for me "Sure?".

He smiles before wincing, holding his head he opens the door wider for me to enter. I walk in and feel my way towards something to sit on. He closes the door and returns to his bed with his mug of coffee. Realising there's nowhere else to sit, it hits me that I either sit on the floor or -

"There's space on here if you wanna sit." He says as he fluffs his pillows and lies comfortably down. " - at the bottom I mean." he quickly adds and I'm thankful that it's dark and he can't see how red my face is at the moment. I nod and take a sit on the bottom as he curls his legs up making room for me.

"I never said thank you for last night," he says as I pull my legs up on the bed, "I had a good time."

"I did to – we should – erm, do it again sometime." I see his eyebrows raise from his place the other end. Did you just ask him out? Oh God. I can feel my body tingling as I wait for his answer. Why did I just blurt that out?!

"Sure – that is, if you want to." I release the breath I'd been holding.

I can't speak so I nod my head and he smiles into his mug before he takes another sip. Why am I suddenly becoming shy around him? Yuy you are so weird!

He sighs and it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

"Coffee the morning after always tastes so good."

"True. Coffee the afternoon after tastes even better."

"It's the afternoon?!"

"About 2:15."

"God, we must have over done it with the champaign! Did you just get up?"

"About 15 minutes ago." I reply as I shift my weight trying to get comfortable while trying to keep my eyes from wondering over to him laying the way he is on his bed. The next thing I know Duo's passing one of his pillows down.

"You can lay your head down if you like – if you're feeling as bad as me I know you need it." I chuckle, I sure do feel bad – but I feel slightly strange lying on a bed like this with another guy as I think of the last time I did. We ended up – well you all know the story. But my body like before does the complete opposite and takes up his offer.

Lying top and tail, and balancing up so we can still drink our coffees I watch as he closes his eyes in bliss. My eyes zooming in on his perfectly formed mouth -

"The nuns were talking about us." I suddenly speak up trying to fill in the silence. I see him roll his eyes in the dark as he takes another sip of his drink.

"They're all gossips you know, Father Maxwell's the worst I've heard him jabbering to Sister Helen about what people say in the confession box."

"Anything interesting?"

I see him smirk, "that would be telling, and anyway what is said in the confession box isn't supposed to be repeated outside – Father Maxwell just can't help himself."

I chuckle into my drink as I think of the old man, he must know about everything that is going on in this city!

"Anyway you hear what they said?" I hear him ask, almost uncertainly.

"Not really I just heard our names." I say thoughtfully as I actually wonder over what the nuns were talking about. "They heard you won the talent show."

"Wow news travels fast." I hear him say with a blissful sigh, he's probably thinking back to the moment he kicked Relena's butt. God that was a good moment. Just the thought of Relena having someone dragging her head out of the clouds and back to Earth is amazing. Why have I not noticed all this about her before? She's rude, controlling – she always wants to be centre of attention, in a bad way, – she gets off on other peoples misery and misfortune – and this time it back fired onto her.

"Duo?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm glad you beat Relena." I see his eyes widen.

"Why - I thought - didn't you want her to win?"

I shake my head. "No. Apart from the fact that you were better, I think she needed something to burst her perfect little bubble."

"I'm glad I could be of service," he says with a cheeky grin which lights up his face, and it looks like it belongs there.

"So did you like the food last night?" I don't know if I should have asked that question or not because he launches off onto a half an hour rant on how the French food was amazing and how he would like to try other different types of cuisines. It's weird to think that there are people in the world you have never tried things like that before.

"So did you like the frogs' legs?" I ask.

"To be honest they just tasted like fishy chicken." I laugh at his comment as he sets his empty mug on his bedside table and lays his head down on his pillow. "And the snails just tasted like garlic and looked like slugs."

Setting my mug on the floor I lie my head down onto his pillow, drawing in his unique scent. To be honest I'm glad I took his offer up on the pillow because now I feel so much better with my head down.

He smiles, "better?"

"Yes," I reply. "much."

"I guess drinking 7 bottles of champagne we should have expected this," he chuckles but then I hear him wince. Since I can't see what the light is like outside since the curtains are drawn I don't know how long we lie there chatting about this and that. Him going on like he did last night – it's amazing that the guy who wouldn't speak much to me before now likes to babble on, mostly about nothing. It makes me wonder from whom he might have picked up that particular trait – probably Sister Helen, or was it someone from his past before the church.

"Have you ever wanted to find out who your mother and father are?" I ask suddenly. He frowns deeply and I instantly wonder if I have upset him by bringing them up.

"I don't really know." Looking conflicted he says, "I do in a way and I don't. You see I've had them down as the biggest bastards in the world for leaving me the way they did. I could have been murdered or picked up by some pervert. It's a good job Solo found me when he did."

"Solo?" By the look on his face and his reaction I don't think he was supposed to say his name out loud.

"The Scythes leader -" he says quickly before continuing so I don't have a chance to butt in, "but I think I would also just like to know who they are – just because I don't have any family."

His words hit a hidden spot within me. We are in a way very similar after all. My parents – I don't even want to think about them. But what if he had the chance to meet his, to know who they are? I would give anything to get my parent's back. I wonder if he's ever thought of DNA testing. Sighing I glance down at the duvet and notice one long piece of hair.

Glancing out of the corner of my eye as Duo yawns and rolls over. I see him glance at his bedside clock. Suddenly he's jolted out of bed and grabbing the nearest clothes slung on the floor.

"SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!" he keeps cursing as he runs like a headless chicken around his room while I in the mean time pick up the piece of hair and carefully fold it in my hand. "I'm sorry Heero, I've got some place to be!"

"You got plans for tonight?" I ask and for some reason I feel a bit saddened.

"Yeah -" he trails off as he looks for his stuff. "Quatre asked me over tonight – it's kinda tradition that I basically go over his place every Saturday night -" he grabs a rucksack off his chair. "If he isn't busy," he adds quickly.

I sit up from my place while nodding my head. "I suppose I could go practice football with WuFei, we have got a big game coming up."

"Sure, sure." I hear him answer in a hurry.

I get up from my place just as he's finished his mad raid. Opening his bedroom door I'm instantly assaulted by the bright lights of the hallway and I can see outside the sun is starting to set. Had I really been in his room for that long?

"So – I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" He says as we both exit his room.

"Cya later Duo."

"Cya Heero -" And he's gone, rushing off down the corridor at top speed and out of the bunk house. Glancing down at the palm of my hand I see the rather long coil of hair. It is a brunette colour, but with a tinge of red – like chestnut. So Duo's got long hair? Or have I picked up someone else's by mistake – but whose? None of the kids are allowed in Duo's room as I've been told from bad past experiences. Has Duo got a girlfriend? I feel my heart sink -

There's only one way you can find out Yuy. Marching to my room, suddenly in a bad mood over my recent discovery, I grab my phone. I dial in a number I hardly use hear it ring twice before it's answered.

"Boy? You OK? Is there something wrong?" I hear J my great uncle say on the other end of the line.

"Everything's fine J I just need your help on something."

"Anything Heero, just say the word."

"I've collected a hair sample from my friends' bed, I wanted to find out who his parents are – however I don't know if the piece of hair is his – it's rather long."

"Well, send it over anyway and we'll find out by cross examining DNA from the police DNA office." That's if he's in there – maybe I could find out his real name -

"Good."

"Have you got his permission to do this?"

I pause – no I haven't, and I don't really know if he would want this done but - "Yes, in a way, he said he would like it done but doesn't have the money. I thought I'd surprise him." I cringe as I force out the lie.

"Sure. What a nice thing to do. Well send over the sample as soon as you can and I'll have the results back to you in a week."

"Thanks J, will speak to you soon."

"Goodbye Heero." And the line is cut. J is a busy man after all I'm surprised he's even doing this for me. J works for the Preventers, like my father did, however he's their top scientist in the DNA evidence lab. He works on L1, which is why I never see him – even though he's supposed to be my guardian. He just hired a maid to come round to the house from time to time to help me keep my Mother and Father's house tidy and to make sure I'm OK.

Glancing at my watch I find that it's 5:00. Since I have free time tonight and it's getting too dark to play football I could pop by the post office to send Duo's hair to J. Then I can head to the library to start my report. Maybe when the results come back the mystery of who is Duo Maxwell will be solved.

TBC...


	32. Discoveries

**Chapter 32**

**Discoveries**

**(WuFei POV)**

Yuy's guard is down today and I know he is seriously thinking about something. I haven't seen him act like this since – well, since that unforgettable night of 17th October 5 years ago. Something seriously must be up.

Passing the ball to him as we practice our long range throws for our big match, I see him almost miss. Heero Yuy never almost misses. He always catches the ball with confidence, which is why he's such a good player and the football captain. He passes it back with a sigh.

The sun is high in the sky and we've been practising since 9 this morning. First we went for a 10-mile run before hitting the park for some serious training. However today, I can tell his heart isn't in it. It's almost three and we still haven't had a break. Normally Yuy likes to eat at regular intervals because of his diet. However today he's even forgotten about his strict regime.

I catch the ball before throwing a spinner. He misses. The ball lands with a thud to the floor and he just stands there staring at it. No death glare, no nothing – Something's seriously wrong.

"Lunch?" I call across to him. His head instantly snaps up and his eyes level with mine. He nods. Heading towards my car I pull out two boxes of sandwiches, which my wife-to-be packed for me this morning. One set for Yuy and one set for me. If she wasn't acting like such a bitch before I left I would have appreciated it more.

We both settle down on the sun-heated grass and open our lunch boxes – cheese salad sandwiches, an energy bar and a large bottle of half frozen water. The wife-to-be has a thing for freezing drinks if she knows the day is going to be hot.

He doesn't speak as we eat and by the time I've finished my sandwich he's still munching on his first half. Something's up – and I don't know if it's a good idea to bring it up or not. I wonder how his date with Maxwell went on Friday.

"Something wrong Yuy?" I ask slowly, before cursing myself for even asking the question as I see his head bow.

"Nothing really – just got a lot to think about."

"Maxwell?"

"Why do you assume I'm thinking about Maxwell?" He asks seriously, almost accusingly.

"Or is it Relena?" I say as I open my protein bar, "At the moment it's always one or the other -"

"That isn't all I think about WuFei." He answers scornfully before sighing, "Well actually it is Maxwell."

"I take it your date went badly then?"

"No -" He pipes up quickly, "it went fine – no actually it went perfect."

Has he got stars in his eyes? Oh dear- this cannot be happening! How fucking ironic. Has Yuy got the hots for Maxwell?! "So, what's the problem?"

"I -" he stops as he considers his next words. "I think I may have done something seriously bad."

I sigh as I swipe my hand across my sweaty forehead. "What you done now Yuy, bet your life against Trowa?"

He rolls his eyes at me before setting his half finished sandwich down in his lunch box, "I stole a sample of Duo's hair and sent it to J for a DNA testing to find out who his parents are."

My eyes widen at is confession, "You didn't have his permission did you?!"

"No." He says guiltily as he shakes his head.

"Heero, these are sensitive issues!" I almost scream as I think of the poor guy, "he's been an orphan for most of his life! Did he even say he wanted to know who his parents are!"

"Well – kinda, in a way -" I hear him mumble, "shit WuFei, I shouldn't have butted in should I?"

"Hell NO!" I glare angrily at him, "It can take years for people to work up the courage to find out who their parents are!"

"I just thought – shit -" I watch him pull out his mobile phone and dial. 10 seconds later he sighs and hangs up. "J's not answering – don't really know where he is."

"I take it you haven't told Duo."

"No, I haven't seen him since about 5 yesterday, he went over to Quatre's last night and was asleep when I woke up this morning."

"Trowa was over Quatre's last night too – well it was nice for them to invite us!" I say hotly, actually, I really couldn't care less whether I was invited or not. However by the look on Heero's face he looks kinda pissed. I guess someone's not happy that they weren't invited.

"I'll keep trying J, if I get through to him I'll tell him to call it off. Anyway he won't have the actual DNA until Tuesday, I only sent it last night."

"That gives you some time to put a stop to your terrible idea -" I say before thoughtfully add, "Or you could ask Duo and see if he really wants this."

"I don't know if he would or not -"

"No harm asking though."

"He doesn't really like talking about them – I sorta feel bad for bringing them up since I kind of know what he is going through." Wow is Yuy feeling sympathetic towards Maxwell – does he actually care about the guy's feelings now?

"It seems you and Maxwell are getting along better now." I add with a slight smirk as I lay back on the grass. I can see out the corner of my eye as he does the same.

"Yeah, he's a nice guy when you get to know him."

"Talented, fun and trusting." I say, "The complete opposite of Relena."

"Yea – hey, what are you implying?"

"Nothing – what did you think I was implying?"

"Duo and I are friends." He says firmly, "I respect the guy a hell of a lot, and he is very genuine."

"Like I said – the complete opposite to Relena."

"Relena – she has her moments."

"Once in a millennium," I murmur. I don't think I could hate someone as much as I hate her. "Have you even stopped to think about what you are going to do to this 'nice, genuine guy'?"

Heero scowls in his place, "Of course I have! And don't think for one second that I don't feel bad about it, because I do!"

Leaning up on my elbow I turn my attention towards him, genuinely amazed at his statement. "Wow, you know Yuy it's actually good to hear you say that. So why haven't you called it off?"

He's struck silent then, I can see by the look on his face he's in deep thought.

"Still think you need Relena?" I ask and his blue eyes snap onto me.

"I do need Relena." His voice and eyes are saying two different things.

"Why?" I sigh in frustration, "The girl is fake, egotistic and idiotic! How much worse can you get?!"

"Like I said, she has her moments."

"What? When she's confessing to cheating on you and trying to get back into your good books?"

"No -"

"Or is it when she wants you to buy her a new pair of shoes or go to some party you don't want to go to." He's silent and I know he's pissed off – that I've pissed him off because I've just thrown the truth in face and he doesn't want to admit it. I don't regret it, but if I actually want to stay friends with Yuy I suppose I should apologise for my outburst.

"I'm sorry, it's just the girl – she really pisses me off sometimes."

"Every girl pisses you off." He bites out angrily. I sigh.

"Heero, I just don't think it's right what you are doing – if you respect Maxwell as much as you say you do you would tell him the truth. You never know he may lie for you and tell Relena he loves you."

"I couldn't get him to do that." I see a faint blush spread across his face. Yuy, you are so confusing! You blush over a guy when you say your straight! You even think about him all the time! I think someone is in major denial.

"Just – do what your heart tells you to do." God I sound like some sap out of a woman's film.

"My Father once said to me 'Act on your emotions'." He turns to me then, his face full on confusion and right then and there I know that he hasn't got a clue what he is doing – and maybe he's in too deep to pull out now, just like Trowa.

"The thing is – I don't really understand my emotions so how can I act on them."

**(Heero POV)**

Lying in my usual spot in the back lawn of Maxwell church I can faintly hear WuFei's car drive back towards the North. Why did I have to spend the day with him?! He's just made everything so much more complicated.

OK, so I agree with him to an extent Relena is egotistic (everyone knows that) and I suppose she can be fake to some people. But during my time with her she did seem real, what we had did feel real – but I don't really have anything to compare it to. How can I know my love for Relena is real when I have never loved anyone else? Maybe I'm just attracted to her for what she is. Head Cheerleader and Football Captain are supposed to be the schools most popular couple. But is that what I want?

Comparing Relena to Duo, well, there is no comparison. From one conversation with Duo I can tell he wears his heart on his sleeve and is genuine – he'd never hurt anyone just for kicks. While Relena – my first conversation with her involved her making fun out of one of the kids in our primary class. I laughed and she instantly took to me.

Relena physically is stunning, from head to toe. She has a great fashion sense and is very well groomed while Maxwell – well, he hardly ever gets to wash, I can hardly see his face and well his fashion sense – lets not even go there.

So which direction should I go. Do I even like Maxwell in that way? OK so I look at his body, and it does spark something – but does it spark the same reaction that Relena's does for me? Is it worth continuing with this bet and winning back Relena, or is it worth telling Duo the truth and dealing with the consequences while clearing my conscience. Fuck, Heero why do you have to be so fucking complicated!?

Frustrated by my current situation I silently thank God that the kids haven't come outside to annoy me yet. I can hear their cries from within the bunkhouse.

Turning onto my side I stare at the old church again my eyes wonder onto the ripped red curtain. The mystery room.

Jumping up from my place on the grass I make my way towards the old church and enter through the back door of the empty kitchen. Entering the church I find it empty and eerily cold. Stopping to glare at where I thought the door should be, I suddenly noticed something. The large picture of Jesus to the right of the wall is tilted slightly as if someone had been messing with it, maybe... Slowly approaching the picture, I glance around to make sure nobody was watching me. I push the picture to the side and surely enough there is a hole in the wall behind it. My heart suddenly beats faster in my chest. Yes, yes, yes! I've found it! Glancing over my shoulder one last time to make sure no one was in the church I slip through the gap and let the picture swing back into place.

Frowning I stare up at the twisted staircase leading to the top of the tower before I begin my ascent. On the way up I notice names have been carved into the bricks by a blunt knife, the first one being Jamie, and then Smith. By the time I'd reached the top I'd counted 50 names, but who were they? There is a doorway 10 feet away from the stairs, a piece of red curtain covering it. Glancing back down, I shiver slightly at the large drop to the bottom before continuing forward. Pulling back the red curtain I frown at the sight.

The room was filled with junk from old footballs to rugged looking clothing. However on the wall are many newspaper cuttings. Cautiously I make my way forward to take a look. The pieces of paper, I notice, are just over 5 years old, and they have turned yellow. The first one read:

_A young child, age 10, was found on the street today, butchered to death. It has been suspected that the child was part of one of the many street gangs around the Sanc Kingdom. Police are investigating the murder and have some suspicions but are unwilling to supply this information. _

Suddenly I notice in the bottom corner of the feature, written in small handwriting is the name 'Sam'. Frowning I move onto the next one,

_Today is a sad day. Police found a young boy, age 14, hung from a lamppost, the number 1 carved into his stomach. Police are investigating the murder of the poor boy, and are trying to find his mother and father... _

My eyes stray to the bottom of the text and indeed at the bottom is the name 'Jamie', moving onto the next one I notice the name 'Smith'...wait a minute...I gasp loudly as I suddenly realise, the names on the wall are the names of the kids who were murdered over 5 years ago in these newspaper clippings. I feel my heart beating frantically in my chest. Why were their names on the wall? Who put them up here?

Suddenly feeling like I'd seen enough I turn to hurry out but trip over a large wooden chest on the way. Rubbing my sore hip I turn to the chest intrigued to know what is inside. Opening the hatch I find more clippings however this time they aren't small like the ones on the wall, they were larger with pictures. My eyes land on a picture of a stunning young guy with long blonde hair and piercing green eyes. It looks like it was taken from a security camera as the boy was standing on the street glaring up at it. He is dressed in some low baggy ripped jeans and a dirty jumper.

_Today police have released that the body found tied to the old palace gates was that of Solo... _

Holy Fuck! I shove the piece of paper back into the chest and slam it shut as I suddenly realise what I've been snooping in. Duo's memories. The truth about his life on the streets. Oh shit, fuck, bollocks.

I feel my body collapse against the large chest while I wrap my quivering arms around myself.

So this is what happened to them all. They were all butchered to death and Solo – How the hell can a guy like Duo keep all of this in. Just the thought of all my friends and family being murdered is unimaginable. Then it suddenly strikes me. Is that why he's not listed in the Sanc – maybe he's a protected witness.

My heart beats wildly in my chest – those guys the other night – they recognised him – maybe they were the ones who killed the others. Does that mean Duo's in danger? Should I tell Father Maxwell? Has Duo already told Father Maxwell? Will he have to move and go into hiding somewhere else?!

So many questions, and no answers and that's not the worst of it. How the hell am I supposed to keep this a secret?

"Heero?" I jump at the sudden soft voice spoken from the doorway. My heart nearly jumps out of my chest however I relax as I realise its only Sister Helen. "What are you doing up here?" Her voice is almost panicky as she ushers me towards the door. "You shouldn't be up here."

"Sister I think Duo might be in trouble." I state in panic.

Her eyes widen, "what do you mean?"

"The night I took him out – some guys recognised him, they chased us around the North and we had to hide out in the old palace." Her eyes widen even more at the words. She's silent, her eyes flashing madly around the room as if searching for the answer. "Sister?"

"Duo's surely kept this quiet," she murmurs, "Come let's go downstairs before we're caught." I nod and follow the nun quickly down the stairs and she slides the picture perfectly back into place. I follow her into the kitchen and she pours us both a cup of coffee before saying, "Now, tell me all."

So I do, in detail. Her face greys as she listens and by the end she has her head in her hand.

"I'll tell Father Maxwell -" She says, "Thank you Heero, this is very important information – we don't want anyone to get hurt, especially you or Duo."

"Me?" I frown "What would they want with me?"

"They saw you with Duo – the others – well they were killed because of-" She shakes her head, "Heero you don't need to know, you'll be fine I'm sure, they won't come near the school."

"Sister, I think I deserve a real explanation if my life is on the line." I state hotly, but she shakes her head.

"I can't speak about something I hardly know anything about."

"So what should I do?"

"Sit tight, watch your back and you should be fine, the school already knows not to let those gangs onto school property." My eyes widen at her words. Jesus Christ, all this has been going on right under our noses. "– I'll talk to Father Maxwell and get back to you." With that she rushes out the room muttering quietly to herself.

Taking a sip of my coffee I try to calm my shuddering body. This definitely wasn't what I expected from my visit to the Maxwell church.

**TBC...**


	33. Oberi Husane

**Chapter 33**

**Oberi Husane**

**(Heero POV)**

It's funny, when you know your life maybe on the line you can't help but notice every noise, make a note of every exit and note down what everyone is doing. This is just what I've been doing at the church, around the kids – people who I know aren't even a threat – but at school, I think it's going to be a whole different story. I can't go to school acting like this.

Lifting my eyes up from my bowl of shredded wheat and milk I level my gaze at Maxwell sitting at the other end of the table as cheerful as always, as if all his life has been just peachy. I admire him for that. I don't think I've ever met someone so mentally strong. At the same time I think the guy's got a fucking death wish, why hasn't he told Sister Helen or Father Maxwell? Does he want to die?!

I watch silently as he snatches the morning newspaper playfully from Sister Helen as she walks into the dining room but something on her face tells me something is wrong. A second later the sound of Duo's chair scrapping back along the floor fills my ears as I watch him make a dash from his seat and out the dining room. I frown. What the hell is wrong with him this morning?

Sister Helen instantly snatches up the newspaper again and makes her way to the kitchen. Intrigued to know what's going on I get out of my own seat and follow her. Upon reaching the kitchen I find her leaning against the kitchen counter her face with the look of shock and worry all over it.

"Sister...what's wrong?" I ask, without answering she turns the front of the newspaper to face me and I gasp as the sight.

_Husane or Houdini?_

Holy fuck. I remember this guy.

_Oberi Husane broke out of jail last night with the help of his thugs outside. The Police have released that his cell wall was blown up using a small bomb from the outside around about 2 o clock in the morning. Police are calling on any witnesses who may have seen the man in the picture below after these hours. Chief Johnson made this statement last night:_

_'We're going to do everything possible to get Husane back behind bars again which is why we need everyone's help. This kingdom is not safe until he is locked up for good' _

_Husane was originally locked up for his murderous crimes against one particular street gang named the 'Scythes'. The Police believed there was no motive behind the killings other than means for power and intimidation. The last to be killed was the leader of the Scythe gang Solo; his body was found tied to the front of the old palace gates. Husane was classed clinically insane on arrival at Sanc's Prison for reasons the police would not disclose. _

I stop in my readings feeling my heart beating wildly in my chest. Jesus Mother Fucking Christ!

"Sister – are we in danger?"

"The police say they've picked up his trail heading out of the city" She replies. Fuck they've called in already. "They say you should be safe and that he may not know about Duo."

"How do they know he's out the city?" I ask.

"Sighting in the next city." She informs, "They're placing some troops at the school, you should be fine. We've got some people watching over the church as well."

"And Duo?" Her eyes slide close. I bite the inside of my lip – what am I supposed to do in a situation like this? I'm not supposed to know anything about it. "I'll go make sure he's OK."

Making a beeline for the bunkhouse I enter quickly to avoid the kids and make my way towards Duo's room. I knock twice and there's no answer.

"Duo?" Instantly I hear some shuffling the other side before he answers. His face pale and of course he looks like shit. "I – Are you OK?"

"I'm fine Heero," he answers too quickly and he notices his error.

"Do you want a lift to school?" He silently nods his head. I wait outside his room gravely as he collects his things. We walk to the car in silence. However, once the car doors are closed I hear his breath begin to speed up.

"Duo?" His breathing just gets louder and shorter and by the look of it, it looks like his having a panic attack. Without meaning I reach forward and pull him towards me into a hug. His body is rigid at first however, and then he relaxes into my touch. I can feel my heart pounding as I can feel his body pressed against mine. A few minutes later, after his breathing has calmed, he pulls slightly away from me. His violet eyes staring straight into the depths of my soul, making my stomach twist into knots. My eyes zoom straight onto his lips which are puffing small lots of air onto mine.

"Thank you." He says with a croaky voice, "I guess I should stay at home – I don't really think I'm in the mood for school today." I nod my head, however I keep my hold on him. I feel like I can't move, that I want to keep him here with me just to make sure he's OK and doesn't have another panic attack.

Noticing our close proximity he blushes and that's my cue to pull back.

"Sorry," I murmur and I know I'm blushing.

"It's OK." I see a breathtaking smile come to his face, "It's good to have someone here to do that."

"It's no problem,"

"Thank you Heero." He pops the car door open and moves to leave, "I guess I'll see you later." I nod and stay sat in my car watching him race towards the church and get into the safe zone.

Apart from worrying about Duo my school day consisted of brain dead girls trying to hit on me, Relena glaring at me and listening to Trowa and Quatre flirt while WuFei complained. This is not what I wanted. Also at Lunch I had to suffer though the gossip about the new guards around the schools. No one knew the reason they were present, apart from me.

By the time I'm in ICT, a class I have purely on my own, I'm glad to have the space. Booting up my laptop I'm instantly on the Internet researching as much as I can on Oberi Husane. I remember the guy, he was all over the news about 5 years ago. However my mind was too caught up in my own problems to care about what was going on in the Sanc.

When caught Oberi had been classed clinically insane – not just from his insane ways of butchering people, and I tell you now from what I've been reading he didn't just murder them, he chopped them up so they were hardly recognisable any more.

Again Solo's picture comes up on the screen, his green eyes look endless. For a 18 year old guy he looks dangerous and as experienced as a 30 year old man. His face had already inherited some forehead stress lines. Reading the article:

_The Last of the Scythes._

I gather mixed information from biased contributors from how it is a good thing the gang was murdered down to how the police did a very poor job capturing Oberi. However it was the title that drawn me in and the very last line.

_Oberi murdered every member of the Scythe gang – who's to say you're not next?!_

But he didn't murder every member, Duo was the only survivor. Glancing back at the young teenager I suddenly notice the small text:

_'The body of Solo was taken and buried at the Maxwell church.'_

My eyes suddenly widen as I realise something. Snapping my laptop close I hastily exit my class with my teacher calling out after me. I ignore him and march towards my car. Wheel spinning out of the car park I drive my fastest back to the church, scrambling out the car and down into the gardens I make my way towards Duo's tree house were I'd spotted -

In a clearing just off to the left of the tree house is indeed a tomb stone, the area slightly over grown with nettles and wild flowers. Pulling back the large plants I get to read the tomb stone and I feel sick.

_Here lies Solo _

_In my dreams and in my heart - I'll always keep a part of you with me. S._

"He wasn't supposed to die." I almost scream as Duo's voice makes me nearly jump out of my skin. "Well not the way he did – guys like him are supposed to live a long life, not die when they're 18."

"Duo -"

"Done your homework I see." He interrupts, I watch as he wades his way through the overgrown plants and stops at my side. A single rose in his hand, probably picked from Sister Helen's garden. He places the beautiful blood red flower on top of the stone and I nearly gasp at the expression on his face – his eyes wide with emotion, anger, pain and sorrow.

"You're mad."

He's silent as he stares at the tomb stone, finally he answers "-No, I should have expected it after the other night – and this morning."

"I'm -"

"Don't say it," he says warningly, "I hate those words."

"I'm -" I stop in mid sentence before shaking my head. We stand there in silence again. A million and one questions are whirling around in my mind. Why the hell did Oberi want to kill all of them? Did he even know Duo was still alive? He must – Duo's probably the reason he broke out.

"I don't understand, why not me – why everyone else and not me." Duo's voice cracks and his eyes brim with tears but none fall.

"Maybe it wasn't your time, maybe God has other plans for you." J once said that to me, I remembered the day perfectly.

"I felt at the time everyone around me was dying – and it was all my fault. I felt like the grim reaper you know, The God of Death burdening everyone who was close to me with death – even -" He stops and takes in a deep breath. Solo seemed to matter so much to Duo – but was it because he was his leader or was it something else? I don't think I'm ready to know the answer to that question yet.

"You'll be fine this time Duo, you have people looking out for you. There's police at school, outside the church, everywhere."

"It's not me I'm worried about, it's the kids, Sister Helen, Father Maxwell – even you." I feel my chest contract at his confession – again he was thinking about others when it was his own life that was on the line. "Surprised?"

"Huh?"

"Not exactly what you thought I was?" He says raising his eyebrow. I shook my head, he was right – hell, how was I to know that Duo Maxwell's life was so full of mysteries and this horror.

"I'm sorry I've got you into this mess." I hear him whisper, "maybe you should pack-"

"I'm not going anywhere." His eyes widen at my statement.

"Heero-"

"I'm staying Duo -" I cut him off before lowering my head, "I want to stick around to make sure everything's alright – that's the least I could do for a friend."

"Friend?" I don't think his eyes could get any wider.

"We are friends aren't we?" I say, almost hesitantly as I wonder if he actually thinks of us as friends. I feel as if I'm asking some girl on a date as I wait for his reply. I can feel my heart thumping in my ears.

He's silent for a moment as a huge blush spreads across his face "-Yeah."

"Good." I let out the breath I was holding before offering him a small smile which just makes him blush even more. I turn back to the grave stone just as he speaks -

"Heero?" I turn to him and he looks almost shy as he says "- I – t -Thanks." reminding me of the way he used to stutter when I first came here. How things have changed in just a few weeks.

A small smile comes onto his face, "I'm just hoping they'll catch him before anything happens – if anything does happen. They'd have a tough time even getting into the South, there's still the other Southy's who guard this area. I guess as long as I limit my time in the North I should be fine."

I nod in understanding still amazed at these new surprises about Duo – it's weird to hear him talk about things like that, he's supposed to be the quiet too-goody-two-shoes from the church. The thing is when I took on this project – I didn't even dream that my life would be put on the line or that I would be friends with Duo. How am I supposed to win the bet when all this is going on? Can I really back stab a friend? Or should I risk losing my Preventers future thanks to Zechs incident sheet?

Though I suppose that's the least of my problems at the moment.

We stroll back to the church in silence, through the overgrown grass and then onto the fresh green.

"Say Heero -" I hear him suddenly say from my side. "You're not going to -erm – write about this are you?"

My eyes widen as I stop in my stride. Turning to him I feel outraged that he would actually think that but then it dawns on me. Why the hell would or should he trust me? I am here after all to document his life story, of course he would think that.

He's looking at me now with slight fear glinting in his eyes.

"No, Duo I couldn't do that to you." The look of relief washes over him and me at the same time as I see him relax. Flopping down on the grass he lies back with his arms folded behind his head.

"So have you actually started your project yet?" I sigh as I sit next to him. I tried starting it a million and one times, however it's hard to put Duo's life into words when so much is going on.

"To an extent, you got anything else I might want to add to it?"

"Depends what you want to know," he says his voice almost husky. Is he flirting with me? I can feel my cheeks getting hot as I lie down next to him, and then my mind goes blank.

As that not bad enough I just blurt out the first thing that comes to mind – and it happens to be the worst question ever. "Ever skipped school for fun?"

Turning to me he raises his eyebrow, "have you?"

"No -"

"You're joking right?"

It's my turn to raise my eyebrow at him, "no, anyway I asked you."

"Sometimes I do -" I smile as I think of the church orphan bunking off school. "So why have you never done it for fun?"

"I -" I frown as I think over the question, sure I've bunked off school for illness and other problems like for example today, but I have never once bunked off school just for fun. "I don't know."

He laughs in his place on the grass before turning to me, "OK, ask me another question."

"What's your favourite colour?"

"Black."

I frown, "Why Black?"

"This may sound a bit morbid but it reminds me of death – which reminds me of them – weird right?" He says looking uncertain. I'd known that face a mile off, it's what some of the less popular kids look like at school when they talk to me, while they are waiting to be called a 'Freak' or to be told to fuck off. God had I really made people feel so on edge all the time that they would actually feel like that?

"No. That's not weird at all." I say turning onto my side to face him also.

"You're just saying that 'cause you feel sorry for me."

My eyes widen at his statement as I shake my head, "no - no definitely not." Lowering my eyes to stare at the grass I say quietly, "my favourite colour is Blue because it reminds me of my mother – she's also dead."

I can see out the corner of my eye as he drops his head, "I'm sorry – you want to talk about it?"

"No more than you would want to talk about the others." I say, "you see because of what happened – to both of them – I just – " I can feel my heart beating hysterically in my chest, I never talk about my parents and now I am to someone I hardly know.

_But this is someone you know you can trust and respect._

" - to an extent know how you feel – just to have someone there for you - and that's why I want to stay." Glancing back up through my hair I find that Duo has shifted closer, his eyes are shimmering in the sunlight, he looks a bit flustered from my words. And right at that second he looks beautiful.

Suddenly my mouth turns dry and I feel like I can't speak. My heart is pounding like never before as I watch the corners of his mouth turn up into a small smile. Somehow it feels like my body is been drawn to him as I find myself moving towards him towards his perfect lips – oh fuck.

The dinner bell sounds out through the grounds making us both jump apart. I watch as he jumps to his feet and scratches the back of his neck.

"So erm Heero, you hungry? I am! Let's go!" He babbles as he turns to rush towards the church leaving me to catch my breath on the grass.

Sliding my eyes closed all I can see is Duo behind them, Duo's eyes, Duo's lips, Duo's – mouth. Shit. Am I actually starting to like Duo Maxwell in that way? Am I actually gay?

**TBC...**


	34. Hooky

Hey everyone! I'm back. I'm so sorry that this has been a long update to come. The boyfriend has been exceptionally ill (I swear he is a walking disease :(). Anyway I will try and update more often from now on, plus I've got some more fics up my sleeves :). Hope you all like this next chapter.

Ps - I'd like to say thank you to my Beta :)

**Chapter 34**

**Hooky**

**WuFei POV**

With the big game coming next week, I really don't think we are going to win. Yuy's hardly practised – being too busy prancing around Maxwell to give a damn if we win or not! And he hasn't even bothered to turn up today! While the others – they just don't have the skill to pull it off without myself and Yuy at their backs. For the love of God, Talent spotters are going to be there! I'd love the chance to get picked up. Though that won't happen if people don't start pulling their fingers out of their asses and start playing proper football!

"Class is over guys!" Zechs yells, the guys instantly run towards the lockers laughing and joking, while leaving me fuming. Picking up the abandoned football I hold it tightly within my hands before booting it off halfway down the pitch in frustration.

I hear Zechs low laugh as he approaches me from behind, "Keep that temper going while we're on the pitch and we may just have a shot."

"We don't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning next week." I snarl as I curl my hands into fists of anger. A second later I feel Zechs hands on my shoulders - messaging my neck -

"You need to cool down." I hear him purr, his lips brushing against my ear making me suddenly realise that he was doing it more for his own benefit than mine. Snapping away from his soft touch I idly rub my shoulders with my hands as I glare at him.

"Touch me again Zechs and you're dead." He laughs and it just makes my blood boil.

"Sure thing, little dragon."

"It's WuFei." I snap with hate, before adding curiously, "Why little dragon?"

"Well -" he says with a smirk and I wish I'd never asked as he coos, "It's because you're a small fiery fellow."

"I'm not small!"

"I'm sure in certain ways you're not," I can feel my blood rushing to my face at his comment. Does he really want me to kick his ass; I am really not in the mood for his fun and games today.

"Zechs I'm going to-"

"Yeah sure, sure," he mocks before glancing towards the changing rooms. "Any chance you know where Yuy is today?"

"I hardly know what that guys up to any more – he disappeared half way through school yesterday."

"Ah, it must be love." I frown.

"Zechs-"

"One can always hope -"

**Earlier that morning **

**Duo POV**

"YUY!" I yell at the tops of my lungs to watch as Heero jump for his life and fall off the side of his bed and onto the floor.

"Maxwell what the fuc-"

"Wanna play hooky?" I grin my best grin as he stares up at me with a slight frown on his face a few seconds later he's smiling and by fuck; it's the best smile I've seen all year.

"Bunk off school you mean."

"Sounds like a plan Heero!" I say pulling him from within the covers, "need to do something to keep my mind off things."

"Duo-"

"And anyway you said you've never done it before so I thought I'd give you the chance to."

"Duo -" I hear him growl but he's up and out his bed giving me his best glare before sighing, "what were you even planning to do on this little – quest of yours."

"I've got a few ideas if you're up for it." I reply not willing to give anything anyway.

"Shouldn't you be staying indoors – in a safe zone?"

"Oberi is in the next town, and besides they wouldn't dream of coming into the South." I see him frown at my words before heaving a big sigh.

"I suppose -"

"OK!" I cut in before he has the chance to change his mind, "meet you outside in 10 minutes."

10 Minutes later we're outside the bunk house, him dressed to kill in a white tank top and jeans while I'm – well let's not get into that. We take a ride in his car down deeper into the South of the Sanc, me directing him of course – well the guy's probably never set his foot in this part of town. We park the car and I lead him into the more fun part of town where the streets are lined with bars, arcades and shops and I know that today happened to be the mid autumn carnival. I was planning to come and check it out on the weekend but yesterdays' conversation got me thinking.

Even though the Sanc is supposed to be in autumn we're still having the last few spells of sunshine and today's exceptionally hot. I feel like I'm going to overheat in my stupid long sleeved t-shirt.

The street is chocker and I can see Heero's eyes widen as he takes it in and the corners of his mouth curl upwards. Great, just the response I was looking for.

Two hours and 5 fluffy bunny toys later after wondering down the street, stopping a few times for Heero to try out some of the stands we end up at a burger bar at the end of the street. Instead of donating my entire weekly wage to the church, this week I kept back £20, knowing the carnival was in town. It's tradition, I always go – however this is the first time I've not spent my money on the game stalls – I'm planning to pay for our meal here. Yeah, I know it's not as glamorous as the French restaurant Heero took me to, but it's all I can offer.

"Not what you expected huh?" I say to Heero as I take in a large bite of my double cheese burger. He smiles and shakes his head.

"I never knew this happened." He says, frowning slightly, "I hope I don't sound rude – but I always dismissed the south as-"

"The poor, horrible, dirty part of the Sanc?" I cut in as I state exactly what he and the others at school think.

"I'm sorry, it's just that's what I was brought up to believe – after everything that happened."

"I know." I say as I take another bite of my burger.

"So –" he says lightly trying to change the subject, before he grins. "What we gonna do with all these stuffed animals."

Swallowing I smile, "I usually give them to the kids, they get so excited about having new toys."

"I would have thought, a guy like you Maxwell, you'd have kept them and snuggled into them at night," he smirks jokingly.

I answer with sticking my tongue out at him and rolling my eyes. He just laughs in response – his throaty sexy laugh that always makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

"You ever played mini golf?" The words leave my mouth without my consent.

His laugh turns into a chuckle and I feel my cheeks tinge at what I'd just asked him. Why the hell (excuse me father) would he even want to play mini golf? Why the hell did I even ask? Just imagine - Heero Yuy, captain of the football team, Sanc highs most popular guy playing mini golf in the South of the Sanc with Duo Maxwell, the biggest loser.

"I used to play it as a kid." He says warmly and I can feel my heart pumping in my chest. "I'd love to have another go."

"You'd love for me to kick your ass you mean." I chuckle darkly into my burger hopefully too quietly for him to hear, however I see him raise his eyebrows.

"I'd like to see you try." He states his eyes narrowing and right at that moment I know I've unlocked the football captain. The reason Heero is the captain is because he's ruthless and never gives up. He always strives for perfection.

However, I happen to be the definition of perfection when it comes to Mini Golf. Sad huh?

After finishing our burgers I hastily go to pay for our bill however as I do Heero frowns and starts to open his mouth.

"I can afford it, don't worry – anyway I owe you." I say as I hand over the only money I have. Heero's frown deepens.

"You don't owe me for anything Duo."

"I do for Friday night."

"Duo I took you out on Friday -"

"And I took you out today, therefore it is my turn to pay." I answer as I turn towards the exit of the burger bar. However I see him place a tip on the table before he leaves – yeah, I didn't have enough for a tip and mini golf.

30 minutes later we are at the golfing green with the silly little putting holes containing windmills, snakes and ladders and all the 7 wonders of the world. They did look nice when the place first opened however now the props are covered in graffiti – I wonder what the mini golf green looks like where Heero used to go when he was little. I used to come here with the gang when it first opened and steal some of the lost balls for fun.

Positioning his ball on the green at the first hole I watch as Heero measures his shot. I can see his deep blue eyes flickering from the ball to the putting hole, calculating a route around. Want to hear my putting trick? I just hit the first ball with decent force and it usually lands somewhere near the hole – and that's when I get all technical. That's the thing about mini golf, I always have good luck.

I have to stifle a laugh as Heero's ball hits one of the snaking walls and rolls back to the start line. His eyes narrow.

"No bad Heero," my chuckle is audible. He growls as I put my ball down and calculate my next move, where I want the ball to land. As I said, I hit it with reasonable force and with luck it winds around the snaking walls towards the putting hole and to put the cherry on top I get a hole in one.

"Fuck yes!" I jump up and do a victory dance before turning to Heero whose eyes have narrowed into thin slits.

Passing me to reach his ball I hear him mutter "fucking cheat" before he hits his ball off down the green. 2 Shots later he pots his ball. I grin from my place waiting at the next putting green. Placing my ball down I take the first shot and it's off down the pitch. 3 shots later I've potted my ball – 7 shots later Heero's done the same.

"Heero, come on don't hold back on me!" I mock as we stroll to our next hole.

"Don't worry, I won't." 3 hole's later and I'm beating Heero by a long shot. I can see Mr. Perfection getting more anxious as we move along.

Setting his ball down on the next green I see his eyes shifting again as he measures his shot. However before he moves to hit the ball I speak.

"Want a tip?"

"Huh?" His head snaps towards me his deep blue eyes staring intensely.

"I just whack the first ball – somehow it always ends up in a decent place."

"That's your tip?"

"Always works for me." I state. I watch as he turns back to his ball. Chewing on his bottom lip I see his eyes flicker again from the ball and down the pitch. Ahead is a windmill, it's blades spinning quite fast. This is the hardest hole – it usually takes me 3 shots to get past the thing. Thinking Heero was just going to ignore what I'd just said I see him bring back his putter and whack the ball with more force than usual.

When I said whack the ball, I didn't mean fucking hit the ball into out of space. We both watch wide eyed as the ball sails down the green and hits the windmill. Somehow however, the ball gets whipped up in the current of the blades and gets swung into the air. Like out of some comical movie we both watch with wide eyes and our mouths slightly open in awe as the ball sails out of the mini golfing ground and smashes through a moving car window.

I have good luck when playing mini golf – Heero has BAD luck.

The car screeches to a halt and we watch as a big, and I mean BIG man gets out the car.

"Fuck." I hear Heero mutter. Turning to him I grab his hand.

"Run." Dropping our putter's to the floor we make a run for it and dash into the crowds of the carnival. Glancing behind us the BIG man decides to follow and we both run for our lives. Dancing past the people I can hear the man's shouts getting closer when we pass a candy stand and an idea comes to my head. Skilfully stealing a bag of small gobstoppers I rip the bag open and spill the contents on the floor.

My plan executes perfectly and the BIG man slips over and right onto his ass. I can hear my chuckling laughter as we continue to run. Glancing over his shoulder Heero spies the man on the floor and he too bursts out into laughter. Pulling him off the street and down a couple of alleys we are finally safe. I can feel my heart thumping in my chest and adrenaline running through my veins – it feels like I'm a street brat again running from a shopkeeper after stealing food.

"Oh – my – god." I blurt between laughter, "did – you – see – his – face?"

"Did you see his car?" Heero replies as he tries to regain his breath. 10 minutes later we've composed ourselves and are heading back towards his car as Heero has suddenly decided that it might be safer to go home.

"You know what Duo?" I hear him say as we reach his sports car. "I'm so glad we bunked school today."

And I am so glad to have spent the whole day with you.

Nothing could have ruined my day, except a note taped to my bedroom window from Hilde telling me to come to the club ASAP. Great, what has she done now?

**Relena POV**

I've been waiting out here for 5 hours. 5 HOURS! For Shinigami to come out the club. I've had Dorothy spying on the place since my birthday. Apart from Saturday nights Shinigami doesn't go near the place, however at 4 o clock Dorothy spotted him coming down the street and called me straight away. Maybe I'll have my chance to speak to him.

I can feel butterflies in my stomach as we both sit in my car with Pagan, my trusty driver, waiting for him to emerge.

"Dorothy are you sure it was him?" I whisper – not really sure why I did.

"Of course I am – how many guys walk around with metre long braids?" she hisses back and just as she does we see him exit the building and dash towards a bus stop. My breath catches in my throat as I tip my sunglasses to the edge of my nose.

He looks as beautiful as the night we saw him at Quatre's house – however this time he's dressed in an ugly looking long sleeved T-shirt and grotty old jeans.

"Relena – have you seen what he's wearing?"

"I can change that, don't worry." I answer quickly as we watch him jump on the bus. "Pagan follow that bus!"

My driver stealthily follows the bus all the way around the winding back lanes of the South Sanc until at one particular stop we see him jump off. I yell at Pagan to stop. We wait until he's rounded a corner at the end of the street before wrapping silk scarfs around our heads and doming our sunglasses to follow. We both follow and round the corner only to see the Maxwell church at the end of the street and Shinigami.

Oh.

My.

God.

We both watch as Shinigami coils his braid on top of his head and puts on that stupid hat to become – Duo Maxwell.

I instantly feel sick.

"Holy Fuck Relena – do you see what I see?" Dorothy squeaks – and Dorothy never squeaks. "What you gonna do?"

Truth to be told I don't know. I've just set up Heero to make one of the best looking guys I've ever seen fall in love with him. Heero could actually steal the heart of the person I thought could be my soul mate.

And that's when my heart does a back flip – Duo Maxwell aka Shinigami could make Heero fall in love with him. Being Mr. Sex on legs he'd have no problem doing that. But Heero loves me God Damn it! Heero's mine and nobody else's! I can feel my hands shaking. Both of them weren't at school today – perhaps they're already doing it behind my back. Perhaps Duo's already stolen MY Heero from me!

"Dorothy we have to stop this," Turning to her I say - "One way or another."

**TBC... **


	35. What the Fuck

**Chapter 35**

**What the Fuck.**

**Quatre POV**

Duo's been smiling all morning – that's a good sign. Second of all he hasn't stopped talking – I don't know if that's good or not because he does it all the time anyway, but the tone in his voice tells me he's extremely happy. He's been telling me about his day out with Heero yesterday over and over again. Not that I'm complaining – it's great to see Duo finally happy. I just hope he doesn't read too much into the situation.

"Q -" He suddenly stops in his babbling, his voice getting all serious. "I think that I love -" He stops and blushes. Fuck – please don't say that.

"Duo -" Placing my hand on his shoulder I see his thick eyelashes drop as he turns to stare at the very uninteresting floor. He knows what's about to come. "He's straight."

"I know," his voice is so lifeless. It almost feels like I've stabbed him in the back, like I've just crushed all his hopes and dreams.

"Don't do this to yourself, you're just going to get hurt." I say, concerned.

"But – Q sometimes it just feels like – you know like at the club -"

"Duo -"

"And when we're together sometimes it feels like he's flirting with me and also Zechs said he slept with him." He adds quickly. My eyes widen at his last few words. What...?

"Zechs and Heero -" I quickly glance around to see if anyone is listening before hissing, "had s e x?"

"Apparently that's why he and Relena broke up."

"And you believe the guy?" I ask raising an eyebrow, Zechs is always looking for ways to trick and manipulate people. I wouldn't at all be surprised if that was just a little trick to help Duo humiliate himself. "He's a snake Duo."

I watch as my braided friend nods his head in agreement, "I know – I couldn't even imagine the two together."

"You ever ask Heero why he and Relena broke up?" I ask, actually slightly interested in the answer. No one really found out the real reason why the Sanc's most famous couple just suddenly split up out of the blue.

"I didn't want to intrude." He says before heaving a sigh, "Q – I'm so fucked up I don't know what to do. I knew he was straight from the moment he stepped into the church – but ever since he's been there he's been trying really hard and he even called us friends the other day."

I feel my heart twinge at his last few words and I find myself wondering back on the last few years at school and how much he, and sometimes I, used to get teased. He's nearly been reduced to tears some days, but Duo is one of the strongest people I know and has a heart of gold to go with it. It is the people like Heero who have made him the way he is at school. And I hated them for it.

Turning to close my locker we both head towards gym class, "Duo, don't you ever think back to the way Heero behaved with you before he had to live with you?"

"Don't you think back to the way Trowa was with you before he bumped into you?"

"Me and Trowa are different."

"How?"

"Well, for starters Trowa didn't call me names – he just didn't know I existed. Heero -"

"I get your point." He snaps and I can feel his good mood wafting away and anger replacing it. I instantly feel guilty. Perhaps Heero does want to be Duo's friend – then again it is a bit weird how Relena has been trying to befriend me all through our assignment. In fact, I wonder where she is today? She left rather early this morning.

"Duo -" I stop our stroll towards the gym locker room and turn to my friend. "I'm just – scared for you. Haven't you noticed that Relena has been trying to kiss my ass since she moved in?"

"Q -" He heaves out a huge desperate sigh.

"Duo all I'm saying is that he could be trying to make her jealous."

"You really have no faith in me at all do you." He snarls. "I mean why the fuck would Heero want to be friends with me – poor old Duo Maxwell, the choir geek, Sanc Highs biggest loser!"

"Duo I didn't mean it like that!" I cry as I grab hold of his wrist before he runs off. Duo makes a habit of that when we argue. "Please don't take this the wrong way."

"What other way could I take it? You're speaking the absolute truth – and I've just been too caught up in my stupid run away mind to notice." My heart stings.

"Duo -" I shake my head, "I'm sorry I upset you."

"Don't." He snaps his wrist away from me then and I can see his eyes are too bright in the lights. "Thanks for bringing me back to reality."

"Duo stop!" I pull him towards me and into a hug and I can feel him instantly melt into my touch. "You're my best friend; I'm just trying to look out for you."

He's silent for a moment as he gathers himself before replying softly, "I know – it just hurts so god damn much knowing he's there and I'll never be anything else to him than that poor-ass guy he had to stay with for an assignment."

"I don't he will think ever think of you like that Duo. You said you had a brilliant time with him yesterday." He nods into my shoulder. "Only friends have a good time together like that right?"

Pulling back slightly he smiles sadly, "I'm sorry Q."

"No, I'm sorry." I reply, "And just to clarify things, Duo you are a wonderful human being, fun and clever too – he would be stupid not to be your friend."

He snorts and rolls his eyes, "Sure."

"I'm being serious." I say, almost angry that he will not accept even this simple compliment. We both stare at each other almost as if it's a match to see who is right or wrong before he bows his head and smiles.

"Clever huh?"

"That's what I said."

"More clever than you?"

"Don't push it Mr." I joke, pushing him away. We both laugh as we turn to make our way towards gym class passing a weird looking guy dressed in a smart police uniform as we do. "I wonder what the police are hanging around school for." I swear I just saw Duo flinch.

"I have no idea."

Duo Maxwell never lies huh? Yeah my ass he doesn't.

**Heero POV**

After a brilliant day out yesterday and finding out Relena has fallen over and broken her ankle – yep that's right. Apparently this morning she was in such a rush to get to school she fell over on her stupid high heels and broke her ankle. I don't think I've laughed so much in my life. She and Dorothy were rushed to hospital in an ambulance just outside the main gates. It was epic, to say the least.

Anyway after yesterday and this morning I was in a good mood, until my world decided to come crashing down around me like a frigging avalanche.

It's another hot day in North Sanc and unluckily for us we have gym when the sun is at its peak. With all the running around everyone is getting hot and sweaty, it is then that my world cracks as Duo happens to lift up the end of his top to wipe away the sweat from his forehead. His shorts falling down just enough for me to come to the conclusion that today under his shorts he is not wearing underwear. I can't keep my eyes off him from then on. I watch from the other side of the field as he runs around with Quatre playing soccer. I can't seem to tear my eyes away from his ass. He has one nice ass.

"Yuy watch -" I don't have enough time to realise there was a ball sailing towards me before I get smacked in the face and fall to the ground. I can hear Trowa's laughter somewhere to my left before Wufei is pulling me up. "What the fuck is wrong with you Yuy?"

I glare at him as I wipe the fresh grass cuttings from myself, "Nothing."

"You are the shittest liar in the whole world." He snarls and I sigh – I really wasn't in the mood for this today.

I kick the ball as hard as I can down the pitch and earn a dirty glare from my Chinese friend as he bolts after it.

"You ok Yuy?" Trowa asks quietly coming to stand at my side, however I hardly hear him as again my eyes are on Duo. "Yuy?" Trowa's shaking me back to reality

"Huh?"

"You eyeing up Maxwell?"

My eyes widen the size of saucers, "shut the fuck up Barton."

"Not denying it though."

Swiping my hand across my forehead I say, "I'm going inside – I need some time alone."

Trowa smirks and I have to resist the urge to punch him in the face.

I jog off the field and head towards the locker rooms quickly. Once inside I hide out in the toilets locking the cubical door behind me and settling myself on the toilet seat. Dropping my head into my hands and dropping them to my knees I close my eyes but all I see behind them is Duo – Duo in his gym clothes – Duo in his normal clothes – Duo in his boxers – Duo in no – Fuck!

Frustration getting the better of me I punch the cubical door only to cradle my bruised hand afterwards. My life is so fucked up, this wasn't supposed to happen! I was supposed to just make Maxwell fall in love with me or just sleep with him and then go back to Relena.

I feel my stomach twist and turn as I feel nausea wash over me. What the hell am I going to do?

_Why don't you just get this over and done with – find another way out. Who cares about Duo?_

I cringe at my irrational thoughts before suddenly realisation hits me as an image of Duo yesterday comes to mind. I remember the look in his eyes and the smile on his face and how I felt at that moment and then how I had felt when hearing him sing at the talent show. I had butterflies in my stomach, and all the nerves in my body felt like they were on fire.

I like Duo.

There I've said it. Happy now? My life is officially over. I should have never agreed to this deal. It was like signing away my life to the devil. I never expected to actually like Maxwell – I don't think I can do this; I need to tell him and then get the hell away from everyone.

Just as that thought enters my mind I hear everyone entering the locker room to get showered and go to lunch. I stay in place, hoping to avoid everyone before racing out of school and getting the space I need before I confront Maxwell. What would I actually say to him? Hi Duo, just so you know I've been pretending to like you over the past few weeks so I could sleep with you to get Relena back – but the fact is I really do like you? Duo I like you do you like me? Duo, are you gay?

Fuck. That thought hadn't even occurred to me. Is Duo actually gay? Am I gay? Fuck!

More importantly how would he react? Would he hate me and never speak to me again? The thing is, I don't know if I can deal with that.

Trapped in my fucked up dilemmas I listen to everyone to leaving. When I finally think the coast is clear I silently exit the bathroom, intending to grab my stuff quickly and then run for the hills.

However my plan is shot to hell as I spot who is standing within the mist of the hot shower room with his back to me.

I feel like the wind is knocked out of my lungs as I take in the long hair of beautiful shades of red, gold and brown and the perfect masculine body before I realise who it is.

Shinigami.

What the fuck is he doing in my school?

What the fuck is he doing _showering_ in my school?

Glancing at the bench where I'd left my jumper hung in the corner I also notice another lot of things across from mine. The white towel with the person's name sprawled across it in black instantly draws my attention.

"What the fuck-" I breathe but I can't speak any more. I feel my hands begin to shake. I see him jump at the sound of my voice. Twirling around to face me his long hair wraps around him, sticking to him like a second skin. My eyes widen and so do his.

My heart stops.

"Duo?"

**TBC...**


	36. Running to the Hills

**Chapter 36**

**Running to the Hills**

**Duo POV**

I wave goodbye to Quatre as he exits the gym locker room running after Trowa hoping to catch lunch with him while I shower. Waiting for the last few people to leave I nod at Zechs as he winks at me and leaves, locking the door safely behind him. My mind briefly wonders over the Zechs and Heero situation as I turn to my things while quickly getting undressed. Have Zechs and Heero really slept together or is Zechs just pulling my leg? He sure seems sneaky, there's just something that isn't right about him.

Pulling my hat off with a sigh of relief, I almost have to feel myself around the shower due to the mist as I enter. Undoing my braid I sigh as I let the heat of the hot water wash away the sweat from gym class. It was so hot outside today I swear at one point I was nearly passed out.

Leaning my hands on the wall in front of me I tilt my head towards the hot water letting it wash over my face. My skin tingles at the refreshing wave washes over me almost removing the pressing issue which has been haunting me since hearing Quatre spell out the truth to me. Perhaps Heero is only being friendly to get back at Relena – she'd hate for him to spend more attention of me than her.

"What the fuck-" I nearly jump out of my skin at the voice behind me and whip around only to see a pair of intense blue eyes staring wide eyed at me – and I bet I look the same. I stop breathing.

Heero.

"Duo?" he breaths his voice hoarse. Oh fuck. I feel like I'm stuck to the spot – standing naked in the mist of the shower in front of Heero Yuy, showing him all, showing him me, showing him Shinigami. I can feel myself begin to shake. Oh God.

I see his forehead crinkle as he tilts his head to the side looking confused as hell, his deep blue eyes staring intently at me as if taking in every detail. I swallow the lump in my throat and bite my bottom lip, trying to look anywhere but at him. I can feel the tears building up in the corners of my eyes at the knowing that everything is over. He knows who I am – the real me.

Turning my attention back to him I find he has moved to the edge of the shower and I can see his chest moving in and out rapidly within the mist as his breathing gets quicker. He still has that intent expression on his face, however he looks almost frightened – he's probably thinking he's gone crazy.

"Heero?" I breathe and the next thing I know he's darting across the shower room so fast he's almost a blur. Getting ready to shield myself against the punch which is about to come I'm taken by surprise as he grabs hold of me, pushing me into the back of the shower wall and then his lips are on mine chaotically– and I return with desperation - I'm not sure this is even real. It can't be.

My hands are instantly in his soaking hair pulling him towards me, the water tumbling down onto us so much that I can't even see anymore. But I don't care – all I need is the feeling of Heero's hands, his tongue and his lips against mine. My heart is doing back flips in my chest and my blood is thumping through my veins like a steam train, and then all too suddenly he pushes me away.

I bang my head on the wall as I catch myself from slipping to the floor. Rubbing the sore spot I glare up at him to find him looking likes he's about to burst with anger – and then he punches me.

I feel my lip split he does and then I fall to the floor. I can feel my tears in my eyes as I look up through my wet hair. Swiping my hand across my lip I find he's drawn blood.

"You bastard." He snarls while trying to catch his breath, his eyes wide and wild. "You fucking bastard." With that he dashes off but finds the door locked. In desperation he turns runs to exit the room through the playing field leaving me to drown in my sorrows hunched in the shower.

I try to stand but find my legs can't hold me anymore and I drop to floor with a painful slip. Drawing my knees to my chest I drop my head as I feel the first tear fall. I can still taste him in my mouth.

Shit.

I should have told him.

I don't know how long I sat in the steaming shower, however I know when I hear the lunch bell ring I've only got limited time before I'm found by some other students. Quickly getting dressed and towelling off my hair as quickly as possible I've just got my hat on in time for Zechs to unlock the door.

He jumps slightly as he notices me and then he frowns when he sees my lip. Closing the door firmly behind him he marches his way over.

"Duo who -"

"Heero." I state simply as I feel fresh tears build up. "I'm so stupid."

"Why – I mean what the hell happened?"

"Why do you care?" I snap glaring up at the older man.

"Because -" he says glancing back at the door as he hears all the other students' race for afternoon registration, "I want Heero to be with someone who actually cares for him – not my bitch of a sister Relena."

I frown up at him as I realise that maybe what he said about before is true.

"You don't know the whole story."

"Wanna explain that one to me." Can I actually trust this guy with my secret? After all he did keep my other one and helped me out on it. My mouth does, as always, blabber away and it tells him everything right down to the steamy kiss. I see the corners of his mouth lift as I do. I don't even know why I'm telling him all this - perhaps my traumatic state is to blame for it.

"You're Shinigami." He states looking a bit shocked. I frown.

"Yeah -"

"I've heard about you." He says now while taking a seat next to me, "from my sister; I think she's obsessed."

"Great." I murmur weakly and I can feel his eyes running up and down my body.

"It's amazing you've been able to keep it a secret for this long."

"Don't I know."

"So what now?"

"What do you mean 'What now?' Heero's probably gone running for the hills and telling every person he passes on the way that Duo Maxwell is Shinigami the singer and dancer from Underworld and Relena's party."

"You don't know that."

"Well why wouldn't he?" I snap growing angrier at myself and what I've done. "I've been lying to him from day one." I see him flinch at my words and his hands curl tightly around the edge of the bench. "I'm just one big lie."

"That can be put right with the truth," he says, turning to me he sighs, "Duo nothing good will come out of sitting here and feeling sorry for yourself."

"I'm not feeling sorry for myself." He raises his eyebrow up at my comment before rolling his eyes. Abruptly standing he pulls me up and begins to shove my stuff back into my plastic bag.

"What are you doing?"

"You need to go and find him, explain things."

"I don't need to do that, I need to run and fucking hide."

"Duo – fuck – Yuy is nothing but a guy. He can't do anything to you."

"Except beat the crap outta me."

"Something tells me from that kiss that he won't," he says and I can feel my cheeks burn up from his words. Shoving my bag into my chest he says almost as if it's a threat, "Go find him." I nod dumbly and do what he says, however when I'm outside the locker room in the school corridor I freeze.

How could I be so fucking stupid? I usually check the whole place is empty before I shower, however this time I didn't. The only time I didn't and it screws me over. Wiping away my fresh tears I decide I have to confront him. There is no other option.

The first thing I do is look out into the student car park. His car isn't there, he's gone back to the church probably to pack and leave before I have the chance to get back.

I can see out the corner of my eyes as I leave school the police squads all racing to the doors however luckily the next bus that runs through town towards the South pulls into the stop as I get there. With my last bit of change from yesterday I pay to get home. Though what happens if he isn't there and he's already left? Should I go around to his house and explain? How can I explain what's going on to Sister Helen and Father Maxwell? What would I say to Trieze?

When I get to the church his car is gone, and his room is empty and I find my confidence has shattered. Why would he want to hear an explanation from me? I'm nothing – and that's all I'll ever be.

**Heero POV**

I nearly hyperventilate as break out onto the school field, however I keep running. Running away from – him -

Dashing into the school I run to my locker were I stashed my car keys before gym class, everyone parting in my way as they make their way to lunch. I can see their expressions as I pass, confused as hell. Hell why shouldn't they? I'm running around school like a manic in my gym kit drenched from head to toe. To my left I see Trowa spot me just as he's about to enter the canteen with Quatre and his eyes widen. In response I just run faster to my locker hoping to get my keys and be on my way out of school before he catches me.

However Trowa's always been able to out run me – he has longer legs for gods sake!

"Heero!" I hear him yell but I don't look back. Skidding to a halt outside my locker I quickly open it and grab my keys before slamming it shut. "Heero what the fuck!".

Just as I'm about to dash for it again I feel Trowa grab me. He slams me up against my locker as I try and wriggle out of his grasp. Luckily the corridor is now empty and I don't have to feel even more humiliated. I should never have said yes to the deal with Relena, I should have just said no and got her back the normal way. But would that have changed anything of what I am feeling now? Fuck!

"Heero, what the fuck is going on?" I try again to get out of his grip but he just slams me back against my locker. My eyes land on Quatre just behind. I see his eyes travel up my body, noticing how wet I am – and then it clicks with him. He knows. "Heero!"

"Duo's fucking Shinigami!" I scream pushing Trowa away with full force. He stumbles but Quatre steadies him before he falls. Slowly he meets my glare before glancing away looking guilty as sin.

"I know." Holy Mother of Fucking God. I can feel myself start to shake as I back away from the two. How could Trowa, one of my best friends keep this away from me after I told him everything I was feeling?

And then it dawns on me, did he tell Duo about our little experiment 2 Saturdays ago? Were they all having a good laugh at me?

"Heero please -" I shake my head at him as I glare.

"Stay away from me." I state as a threat before turning on my heel and running as fast as I can towards my car. I can see some of the guards have even followed me to see what the hell is going on, however they return to their posts as I pull out the car park.

Racing away from school I feel as if a weight is being lifted off my shoulders as I make as much distance as I can between me and the others. I have to pull over however a few miles away as I feel my anger get to much. How had I not noticed any of the signs before? His dancing, his singing, the long piece of hair on his bed. I should have known! I should have realised! How can I be a good preventer if I don't even notice simple things like this?

But then again, what is the possibility of a church orphan who was to shy to make a conversation when we first met, to turn out to be one of South Sanc's most famous erotic dancers?

I tighten my grip around the steering wheel watching as my knuckles begin to turn white. I can still taste him my mouth, my lips are still tingling from his touch – and I almost scream as I realise that was the most amazing kiss I've had in my life. But none of that matters -

Just to think all this time Trowa and Quatre knew and didn't both to tell me. I wonder how long Trowa's known about it. Is that why he was so sure Duo was going to win the talent show? He must have known Relena had no chance from the beginning. He could have at least warned me so then I wouldn't have bet Duo into having to take him out.

I feel my heart twinge at that. That night was one of the best nights I've ever had. Duo's too easily to be around and when I am around him I feel too relaxed. When I used to be with Relena I'd feel on edge, always wondering if I was enough for her, cool enough for her – but around Duo I feel like I can just be me.

Is that what he wants me to feel? Has he been playing me the whole time? He's been taking me as a fool. But then again – I'm doing exactly the same thing back to him.

There's only one way out of this stupid mess and that is to get as much distance away from him as possible.

Turning the ignition and letting my car roar to life I drive the rest of the journey relatively calm. However as I near the church I can feel my stomach churning as all the good memories of the last few weeks come to mind. The Food Fight, Baseball, The Kids, Sister Helen, Father Maxwell – Duo.

Deciding to collect my stuff as quickly as possible I run to my room passing the kids as they play cricket with Sister Helen as their empire. She frowns as she notices me and how wet I still am but she doesn't follow. I guess she can sense my anger from across the green.

As I get to my room I haven't got a lot of things to pack. I only brought a few things for my stay since I like to go home to shower and change. I empty the wardrobe and drawers as quickly as possible. Chucking the bags so they are ready by the door to go I pack my last bag. I feel saddened through my anger as I take in the empty room which was mine for the last few weeks.

The least I could do for Sister Helen is leave it tidy. Placing my last bag down by the bed I start to make the bed but feel over whelmed as I realise I'm leaving the church and all the kids for good. I will never see any of them again. My stomach feels like it's been tied into a knot as I try to convince myself that I'm doing the right thing. Duo royally screwed me over.

I rush out the church cramping all my belongings into my sports car and I make sure I don't look back.

**TBC...**


	37. Interventions

**Chapter 37**

**Interventions**

**Trowa POV**

"He weren't there," I say feeling all of a sudden deflated as I return to Quatre after he'd rushed to the Music room to see if Duo was around. "None of his stuff was on the benches."

"He wasn't in the Music room either," Quatre says anxiously, his sky blue eyes look full of worry for his best friend. My mind begins to race over the possibilities of the scene which could have played out between the two.

The thing that scares me the most is that I've never known an angry Heero not to lash out – I just hope for his sake that he hasn't hurt Duo – I still haven't experienced an angry Quatre.

"We need to find him – I normally wouldn't say this but would you mind driving me to the church? I don't want Father to know I'm missing school." he says

"Don't worry, I was going to come along with you anyway – I just hope-" I trail off realising my words would probably just cause him to worry even more.

"Hope what?" he catches on, his voice sounding slightly higher.

"Nothing-"

"You hope what Trowa?" he demands now looking as if he's a captain on a spaceship commanding his crew. That's the thing with Quatre; he's so over emotional he can range between a sweet little puppy to a raging Lion within 2 seconds flat.

"Heero hasn't hurt him..." I murmur quietly, just the thought of it makes my stomach churn.

His hand snaps up to cover his mouth as he gasps, "He wouldn't...would he?"

"Yuy's always been known to act on his emotions."

"Well in that case we better hurry up and find him – and if Heero has laid a finger on him so help me Allah because I will not be able to hold myself back."

I gulp and nod my head meekly. The look in Quatre's eyes is enough to send a shiver down my spine. However, what I love about him is his loyalty and compassion towards his friends. Especially towards Duo. Since Quatre and I have gotten together I have often wondered why he and Duo never became an item. They are such good friends but why nothing more?

"Right let's go!" he marches towards the front of the school and through the front door. A few security guards watch us as we leave.

"Who are they?" He murmurs towards me as we notice one of them discretely tuck a gun back into his belt. "I don't think Father would be as crazy as to hire guards to watch me. It seems weird that they are even armed – and at this school."

"Some convict escaped from jail a few days ago maybe it has something to do with that?" I answer as we reach my green sports car.

"So they guard the school?" he questions looking slightly confused over the situation. "Perhaps there's something mystical he wants that is being hidden at the school."

"Quatre it's not Hogwarts" I chuckle and he blushes. "For all we know its Relena's parents over reacting as usual."

He sighs, "most probably – but I like my conclusion better!"

I find myself smiling even within the dim moment as we pull out the car park, however I have my foot heavy on the pedal – we need to get to the church as quick as possible. I pray to God that Duo is ok.

When we arrive there are no cars parked on the drive. Instantly I know Heero is not around. I park up and we both sit silently for a moment worrying over if we are ready to find out the state Heero has left Duo in.

If only Heero had been paired with anyone apart from Duo for this stupid English project. If only he hadn't of agreed to the deal. If only I hadn't of taken him to Underworld. There are so many what if's and mistakes we have all made over these last few weeks that I'm not surprised we are in this situation.

Every movement seems so loud as we both unbuckle our seatbelts and pop open the car doors. We trudge silently up to the church and then around onto a cobbled path which lead through the gardens. I follow Quatre because he seems to know where he's going while I take in the beauty of the surrounding grounds.

There are millions of flower beds everywhere filled with the most colourful flowers I have ever seen. In the distance I can see a playing field with some cricket bats discarded on the freshly cut grass – the sweet smell wafts in the breeze and over us.

No matter what Heero says, this place changed him. Duo changed him and I wish he could see it was for the good.

My phone bleeps loudly within the tranquil gardens. I quickly check it to see its WuFei:

** Where the hell are you and Yuy? You left me with Katherine you SOB! **

I roll my eyes and reply:

**At Duos. Shits gone down – Heero left. T**

I turn my phone off after that. I don't think I could be on the phone to WuFei listening to him rant for an hour and help Duo at the same time.

As we approach a large looking building I can hear screams and cries of laughter. It's only as we enter that I notice the crowd of children. We are instantly noticed and they all run over to Quatre nearly knocking him to the ground.

"QUATRE!" They cry as they all try and hug him at the same time. I laugh and take a peak from where they'd just run from to see a room full of bunk beds covered in coloured sheets with toys, books and clothing littered all over the floor. I don't envy the nun who has to clean up that mess.

"Hey guys I've missed you!"

"We've missed you to Quatre!" one cries excitedly.

"Please say you've come to play!" another says

"Guy's I'm here to see Duo, have any of you seen him?" he asks as the last of the kids gives him a hug.

"He's in his room being boring," one whines, obviously they'd already asked him to play but had been declined. "He wouldn't even come and play dress up!"

"Duo always plays dress up!"

"I'm sure he will. Maybe he's just busy at the moment," Quatre tries to explain

"Well Heero's not here so what other excuse has he got?" one of the girls huffs.

"Well if you let us, Trowa and I will go and try and persuade him to come and play." It was right at that moment I wished he hadn't had said my name. Instantly I have all their eyes on me, their small faces lighting up at the sight of another person they could play with.

"Hello Trowa, I'm Sarah!" one girl rushes over and hugs my leg.

"I'm Jake, please say you're gonna play dress up with us!" a cute little boy asks.

"Erm…sure…I suppose," I answer not really knowing what to say. I'm an only child I haven't really had much interaction with children of this age. I see Quatre smirking in amusement. "But first we have to talk to Duo."

"Oh fine," Sarah sulks, "you better promise to come back!"

"I promise," I answer placing my hand over my heart. "Cross my heart."

"And hope to die, stick a needle in your eye!" Jake concludes as he attempts to reach up and poke his finger in my eye.

"Jake! Don't hurt Trowa!" another kid cries, "he only has one eye!"

Jake grins mischievous, "That's so cool."

"Are you a pirate?" A small girl close to the back of the crowd asks looking almost scared at my presence.

"Of course he isn't!" Quatre laughs. I lift up my hair to show the small girl and the others that I am indeed not a Cyclops. Instant relief washes over her small, pale face. "Anyway, we will see you all soon!" Quatre says as he grabs my hand and pulls me down one of the corridors away from the chattering kids.

"Looks like we are playing dress up this afternoon," he chuckles lightly

"Sorry, I just couldn't say no."

"Don't worry I'm collared into it every time. They're just so sweet; it's strange to think their parents would leave them."

"They must be crazy," I answer as I wonder what would make a parent ever want to give up their child. Or what it is like to not know your parents. My own parents died when I was young but at least I have some memories of them.

We stop outside a mahogany door a couple of minutes later and Quatre knocks. We stay silent for a moment as we both listen for movement on the other side.

We hear the sound of a bed coil springing back into place before the door is unlocked and pulled slightly open. I instantly bite my lip as I take in the look on his face. His eyes look bruised from his tears and are dreadfully blood shot. I grit my teeth as I notice the bulging cut on his lip.

Quatre gasps and whimpers, "I'm so sorry Duo."

The braided man shakes his head as he opens the door further, "don't worry Q, I had it coming with all the lies I've been telling. I guess this is Gods way of getting his own back."

I grimace, "Don't say that Duo, you don't deserve this." I can feel anger washing through my veins. How dare Heero hit him after everything *he's* done. What a hypocrite! "You don't deserve to be treated like this."

I can see tears welling up in his eyes again, "but I do." I hear him whisper and my heart breaks.

"Duo, don't say that!" Quatre cries as he grabs for his friends hand. "You are my best friend; you mean the world to me. You definitely don't deserve to be treated like this!"

"Don't forget you're my friend to," I state taking a step forward. "Heero doesn't know what he's missing."

"But a good friend never lies," he chokes and he's right. I hide my wince. Does that not make me a good friend? I'm lying to both of them. I know about the deal. I know about Heero wanting to use Duo and Relena wanting to use Quatre just to prove who's better than the other. Heero doesn't even like Relena anymore – the whole thing is a sham!

"You lied to protect yourself," Quatre states. "It wasn't malicious; it's just the unfavourable sequence of actions which led Heero to underworld."

"It's my fault. I should have never taken him to the club," I add "It was all my idea."

"Trowa I would never blame you," Duo says with all earnest. "You didn't know. On the other hand – you Quatre –"

"Was shitting myself as we walked in!" my blonde boyfriend cries but I can see the sparkle of amusement that reaches Duo's eyes and I know he's thinking back to that Saturday night. The whole situation seems quite funny if you think about it. "And you had to go and get Hilde to dance on me!"

Duo grins in slight pain, "you loved every second of it!"

"Did not!"

"From where I was sat I would agree with Duo," I chuckle which causes Quatre's face to go beetroot red. A laugh escapes Duo's mouth and a few seconds later we are all laughing as we think back to the humorous situation we got in. Not to mention Heero's reaction.

"Guy's I'm glad you came," Duo finally says in all seriousness. "It really means a lot."

"We're just glad you seem semi-ok" I reply softly feeling the slowly growing weight of concern lift off my shoulders. It's weird to think a few weeks ago I didn't even know the both of them, but now especially with Quatre they feel like home to me.

"Well you'd better appreciate it because we're gonna have to play dress up now," Quatre huffs and Duo grins.

"As if you agreed to that," he shakes his head in amusement. "You gonna be Snow White again?"

"As long as none of the kids try to shove apples down my throat like last time," he answers causing Duo to cry out with laughter.

"I nearly forgot!" he chuckles. "Your face! I could have actually died with laughter."

"It was so not funny," just the look on Quatre's face causes me to chuckle.

"Come on," Duo says as he steps out of his bedroom. "The kids will come kidnap you in a minute if we don't get a move on." He smiles but the happiness doesn't reach his large eyes. He turns and takes off the way we came.

Quatre turns to me and smiles before whispering in my ear, "If you promise to be my prince, maybe you can kiss me awake."

I chuckle deeply, "That's one thing I can promise."

xXx

**WuFei POV**

Yuy is a bastard.

Not that I know what's going on at the moment but I can sense that it's Yuy's bastardisation that has caused all the problems and disappearances today.

First he disappears during gym and then Trowa is nowhere to be found leaving me to be paired up with his usual lab partner Katherine who is probably the most boring person on this planet. The woman could not carry an interesting conversation if her life depended on it. Plus she's had the hot's for Trowa since they broke up 3 years ago. I wonder what she would think of his newest relationship.

I knock loudly on Yuy's front door. I know he's in his immaculate car is parked on the drive way all pristine and clean as usual. He's as anal over his car as he is over his hair.

I wait for 10 seconds before I bend down towards the letter box and yell at the top of my voice, "Yuy open the hell up I know you're in there!"

I kick the door with equal measure the wood groans in response.

A few seconds later it opens and I'm standing in front of a very pissed off looking Yuy. He looks worn. He's still wearing his dirty gym clothes. His blue eyes glare daggers at me but the look gets old when you've been around it for the whole of your life.

"What the hell have you done?" I snap and push past him into the house. I step into his neutral hallway where there is a small oak table holding just his keys. I know for a fact there used to be pictures of him and his parents on it. Their death took him hard.

"What do you mean what have I done?" He yells back slamming the door behind him.

"Why are you here and not at school?" I resort as he passes me through to the lounge and towards the kitchen at the back of the house. I follow him and demand, "and why the hell have Trowa and Quatre raced out of school to go see Duo?"

"I left," he says while opening the fridge and grabbing 2 beers. He pops them open by slamming their tops on the corner of the kitchen top. Looks like he's drank a few of them since he's been back there's a line of them stashed by the recycling bin.

"You left? The Maxwell church?" I clarify as he passes me a beer and I unwillingly accept. It's much too early for alcohol. "Why?"

"You really don't want to know," he says before taking a long refreshing drink of his.

"Try me," I copy his movements and take a sip hoping my compliance will keep him talking.

He snorts and shakes his head as if he still doesn't believe what he is about to say, "Duo's Shinigami."

The statement causes my eyes to widen. My beer instantly sprays out of my mouth in utter shock and all over him. His eyes grow wide in disgust.

"Sorry," I murmur trying to hold back a snort of laughter. He glares before setting his beer on the side and grabbing a towel to wipe himself down. "You have got to be joking" I continue.

"I really wish I was," he murmurs.

"But Shinigami…" I mutter as I remember back to the man at Relena's party. It couldn't be Duo. For starters Shinigami had that beautiful long hair while Duo…I've actually never seen Duo's hair… But Shinigami … shit.

"I just keep thinking of all the times he fooled us," he says throwing the towel onto the kitchen counter with some force. "The amount of times we went to that club and at Relena's party. I just feel played like a fool."

"Why?" I ask, the words leaving my mouth without consent.

"Why?" he frowns towards me. "He lied. He pretended to be someone else and played us."

"What exactly did he do?" I ask raising an eyebrow. "So what if he's got an after school job many people have."

"But he lied."

"About having a job?" I reply, "I bet you never asked." He doesn't reply, which confirms my theory. "And anyway you're one to talk about lying."

"What are you implying?" he snaps.

"Oh come on you've been lying to him since the moment you met him." I cry in disbelief. What the hell does he think he's been doing for the past few weeks? Befriending Duo because he actually wants to? The man has his head in the clouds! "In fact the reason why you're lying is much worse than why Duo lied!"

"What I do in my life has nothing to do with you," he says turning his attention back to his beer and taking a long *guilty* sip to fill the silence.

"Oh but it does, you see because I have actually grown to like Maxwell." I say taking a step towards him. "The fact that he dances in a nightclub for extra money because he lives in an orphanage where they have nothing doesn't surprise or disgust me and he is actually quite good at his job."

"But he danced in front of us. He made me believe he was –" he stops in midsentence looking frustrated before saying, "You seem to have forgotten that I didn't want to take part in this stupid deal in the first place."

"Yes but you did, you had the option to opt out!" I snap, "and anyway if you hadn't have slept with Zechs this would never of happened in the first place!"

"It was a mistake, Relena was never supposed to find out."

"Oh please!" I want to bang my head against a wall.

"Jealous WuFei?" he says a smug looking smirk cross his face and I want to punch it straight off.

"In your dreams Yuy," I snarl feeling my anger rise. "I'm an engaged man."

"Of come on Chang! Talk about lying you're lying to yourself,"

"Just like you?" I yell back, "you can't even accept that you like Duo! I saw the way you were looking at him today – and it wasn't in a friendship way."

"That's bull shit."

"Oh really?" I reply, "so why the quick exit off the field today?"

"I was too hot," he snaps moving past me and into his lounge. He's trying to avoid the truth, but I'm not having it.

"Yeah watching a nice ass can get you a bit hot," I counter turning to follow him. There is no way he can deny why he ran off the field today.

"I'm surprised you even noticed I left after all your flirting with Zechs."

I heave a huge sigh, "Grow up Yuy, why can't you admit it? You like him!"

"No I don't," he grounds out

"Yes you do,"

"You're fucking crazy!"

"You're the crazy one for not pursuing the one thing which could make you happy? Why can't you just admit it?" I yell in frustration suddenly feeling as if the man in front of me is a lost cause. Why can't he just admit what he's feeling? We can all see it.

"What a load of bullshit!"

Then it hits me. He's a coward. He's too afraid.

"You're a coward," I say softly, disappointment laces my voice.

"Takes one to know one," he counters

"Zechs and mine "interactions" can be nothing more than that." He seems quite surprised at my words as I speak calmly back and for once admitting what is actually happening between the two of us. "I'm not being a coward I just know something like that can never be. And quite frankly it scares me. I'm promised to another and I never break my promises. But you're ignoring what you really want in life. Something you have a chance of having."

"I don't want anything but Relena and my old life back."

I close my eyes and shake my head. Is this really happening? Are we back at square one?

"There is such a thing as being Bi," I murmur.

"I am not Bi WuFei. I don't like men I like girls," he states as if trying to make himself believe it. "I don't understand why none of you can accept that, you in particular – you should be happy with the fact that one of your friends isn't a homo."

"You're a dick, are you actually taking a dig at Trowa because he's happy and actually accepts who he is?"

"The fact that he is so concerned about Duo to be over there right now after he what he did to me," he snarls. "He knew about Duo all the time. He should be trying to apologise to me!"

"He was probably just trying to protect him."

"Trowa is my best friend, he should have told me. He knew about everything I was going through and he's basically thrown it back in my face. I bet they had a great laugh."

"Heero-"

"Just go WuFei," he snaps but his voice sounds drained. He wipes a tired hand over his face.

"Yuy-"

"GET OUT!" he yells

I shake my head in disbelief and slam my unfinished beer on the coffee table. I march towards the door but before I leave I turn and take one last look at the person I once looked up to.

"You once said to me the only way to live your life is to act on your emotions," I say, his eye's drop to the floor. His father had told him that. "The only thing worse than a liar is a liar that's also a hypocrite. At least Duo stands up and does what he believes in."

With that I leave closing the door behind me, hoping to get the hell away from his house before I turn around and actually beat some sense into him.

**TBC….**

Hey guys, first off I want to say a massive sorry for the VERY long wait for this chapter!

I hope you like it! I'm currently doing some Microsoft exams atm! Work is really driving hard but I'm trying to find time to write so tell me what you think!


	38. The Perfect Plan

**Chapter 38**

**The Perfect Plan**

**Trowa POV**

I can feel my heart hammering in my chest as we pull up outside Heero's house a couple of hours later. Harsher as it might sound taking care of Duo was more at the top of my priority than he. Heero is more than capable of looking after himself. However now I can't exactly ignore the fact that I've full out lied to my best friend – even if he was being a complete tool over the whole situation. I just wish for once he would act upon what he feels not on what he thinks is right – which is usually wrong when it comes to relationships. The poor guy only has Relena to compare everyone to which isn't great.

I also need to explain about why I didn't tell him about Duo's alternative identity and why he **must** keep it a secret. I hope to god that he listens to me. He's such an arse when he's pissed off.

It's almost dark and I can see sliver of light coming from the front room. The rest of the house is pitch black giving off an almost creepy haunted look you see in horror movies. It's been years since his parents died, but since then the house has lost all the sparkle it used to hold. Now it's empty and cold.

I turn to Quatre in the seat next to me. He's been quiet all the way. His brows are drawn together as he continues to be lost in his own thoughts most probably about Duo. I've never met a more caring person than Quatre. He always seems to put others in front of himself. He's kind and generous – I was a fool not to have noticed him before.

He hasn't even acknowledged that we've stopped and the engine has been turned off. I slowly place my hand over his and give it a squeeze. He turns towards me and quickly I notice the anguish in his eyes. He looks awful.

"Duo will be ok," I say trying to reassure him. Duo was in much higher spirits when we left but I know it will take a long time for him to pull himself together. To have someone like Heero Yuy rip you apart can tear your confidence to pieces.

"I've never seen him so low Trowa," he says quietly as he bows his head in sorrow. "He's been really hurt this time."

"I know," I murmur feeling my stomach cramp at the memory of seeing Duo in the state he was in. He looked so vulnerable.

"I will do anything to make him happy,"

I reach out with my free hand and curl my finger underneath his chin. Lifting it I look deeply into his endless aqua eyes where he readily bares his soul.

"We will do anything," I correct him. After all, all I want is for Duo to find some shred of happiness through the dark and gloom which has been clouding him.

I feel Quatre lean into my touch and automatically I'm drawn to him like a moth to a flame. I cover his lips with mine tasting the sweetness and spice that's only him. I can slowly feel the worry and stress of the last few hours drain from my body as all I can feel is him. That's all I ever want to feel.

One of his hands moves slowly to rest on my thigh as he leans over to my side of the car crushing our bodies together. I can feel his heartbeat quickening as our mouths move more urgently however just as soft and gentle. I want him here and now but he stops just as it begins to get too heavy.

We pull apart, our foreheads still touching, breathless. He has the sweetest smile on his lips and a twinkle in his eyes which makes him look even more beautiful.

"You take my breath away Quatre," I breath, "Everything you do takes my breath away."

"I cannot begin to describe the way you make me feel Trowa," he replies softly planting one more cherished kiss on my lips before he moves reluctantly back into his seat. With the sweet afterglow lingering in the air I turn my attention back to the house and the doom which lies inside.

"Maybe I should go in by myself," I say. "Will you be ok waiting here?"

"Of course – don't worry about me,"

I smile and let go of his hand before jumping out of the car. I walk soberly up to the front door and knock 3 times. It's a number of seconds before the door is jerked open and Yuy is standing in front of me looking mad as hell and slightly drunk.

His dark blue shirt is unbuttoned revealing his tanned chest whilst he has a bottle of Budweiser dangling loosely in his left hand. He leans against the door frame and takes a swig of his drink. He says nothing. His icy glaring eyes then snap past me and towards the car were Quatre is sat.

"We need to talk," I state trying to draw his attention back to me

"We don't **need** to talk," he snaps back before drawing another long sip of his beer

"Yes we do," I snarl back and push forcefully past him and into the house. I hear him growl lowly in his throat like an irritated lion whose lunch has just gotten away. He slams the front door forcefully behind him nearly shaking the whole house.

I stalk into his dark sitting room, the only light coming from a small table lamp. By the looks of it he's drank much more than I thought. Bottles upon bottles of beer are spread around the couch which still holds an imprint of where he's been lying all afternoon.

"You have 2 minutes to explain before I throw you out," he says entering the room. The tone in his voice almost makes me shiver. Heero can sound so unemotional sometimes it's scary.

He settles yet another empty bottle on the table.

"Heero look I'm sorry for not telling you," I start off. He walks past me as if he hasn't got the time to listen and into his kitchen to grab himself another beer. I hear him open the fridge door and slam it close as I continue. "But it wasn't my secret to tell."

"You knew what I was going through," he says reappearing with a fresh bottle. "You knew what shit has been going round and round in my head! You took me to Underworld to watch him dance and knew all the time it was him."

"Yes and I'm sorry about that."

"Do you know how much of a fucking idiot I feel?" he gasps. His blue eyes boar into me as if searching for the reason why I would subject him to this. "You two must have been laughing your heads off."

"Heero I – I mean **we** – never laughed at you"

"He must have loved taking Heero fucking Yuy for a ride."

"No actually he didn't!" I snap finally, feeling surprised that he would actually think we would act so maliciously towards him "He didn't want to lie to you Heero but he did it to protect himself and the church."

He looks at me bewildered before saying, "why would he need to protect himself? I would never have told anyone."

"Would you?" I murmur sceptically. He glares at me as if it is common knowledge that he would not sell out Duo. Since when did the guy who was planning on using Duo in the worst possible way start caring about him?

"You still don't understand do you?" I sigh, "He's not like you. People have let him down his whole life. You can't blame him for not trusting you."

"Well he seemed to trust you enough and you don't even know him as well as I do,"

"I only found out by chance," I explain. "I overhead Quatre congratulating him at the club."

He seems stumped for a second before continuing, "You still haven't justified why you took me to Underworld that night"

Why did I take him? I wanted him to realise that what he was feeling was a normal thing. There is nothing wrong with liking guys. But he just bottled it all up and ignored it.

"You want the truth?" I sigh

His storming eyes narrow, "That's all I've ever wanted."

"I saw that you were drawn to him," I state matter of fact. His eyes widen and then he turns away from me. "The first time we were there you couldn't take your eyes off him and again at Relena's party. I didn't want you to just throw it under the carpet and forget about it. You have to admit that you were attracted to him!"

"I don't have to admit anything!" he yells snapping back to face me. "Attracted to him you are delusional?!"

"I'm only stating what I saw and what I felt," I say, "I was trying to help a friend."

"Friend?" he glares at me. "Friends are people you can trust. How can I trust you anymore after this? You were supposed to be my best friend but instead you've been trying to fuck me over by making me doubt who I am."

"I've never made you doubt who you are!" I yell back, "You did that all by yourself!"

He huffs and shakes his head unable to believe that what he was feeling was down to his own doing. I never forced him to be attracted to Duo or Shinigami.

"Look Duo-"

"Don't say his name," he cuts in sharply his eyes glaring daggers into me.

"You've hurt him,"

"I don't care," he says quickly and I almost smirk as I notice the hint of hesitance in his voice.

"Yes you do," I answer calmly, "the things you've been feeling over the last few weeks won't just go away Heero. I know – I've been in your position."

"You've never been in my position!" he yells angrily. His blue eyes flash madly. "Just over a month ago I was the most popular guy in the school with most perfect, popular girlfriend and now because of my mistake and my stupid fucked up teenage hormones I've ruined my life by becoming – urgggggggh!" he throws his beer bottle at the wall and I silently curse as I look at the mess he's made.

I shake my head in disbelief, "Do you really think that not being with Relena has ruined your life? Are you really in so much denial that you think being with that woman will make you happy?"

"I was happy before," he murmured and this time I know he's trying to convince himself.

"Heero you would never have slept with Zechs if you were happy."

His mouth slams shut and I can see the horror in his eyes at the blatant truth being shoved into his face.

"How can you ever be happy if you never follow what you feel?" I say desperately wanting him to snap out of his crazy fantasy. His gaze snaps up to meet mine and I can see I've struck a nerve.

"I am following what I feel," he growls with menace. "Why won't you and WuFei get that into your thick skulls? My feelings are telling me to win Relena back the right way and never associate with Duo Maxwell again."

He takes a step towards me, "isn't that what you wanted anyway? For me to just leave Duo and not involve him in the bet anymore?"

"You know I never like you playing him," I say. "He deserves better than that."

"Well it's a good job I've found out the truth – now I can't stand the thought of being around him."

His words are harsh and cut me straight to the bone. Duo definitely deserves better than my so called best friend. I feel my stomach sink at his stupidity. What more can I do. He just won't listen! At least I can say I tried.

I sigh in defeat.

"If that's the case then can I ask one thing of you?"

He raises an eyebrow in response.

"We will never speak of this again as long as you do not tell anyone Duo's secret."

He reply is short and sweet, "Done."

I feel deflated as I stare at my best friend and all I can feel is disappointment, "I'll see myself out."

When I get back to the car I feel drained. The only thing which is keeping me from falling over the edge is Quatre's tight grip on my hand.

**Heero POV**

I wake up in the morning with the worst hangover in the world. The taste in my mouth is disgusting. My body feels like it's been run over by a truck whilst my head is pounding vigorously.

Opening my sore eyes I blink a couple of times before I realise I've slept on the couch and I'm surrounded by empty beer bottles.

Shit. I drank a lot.

My eyes snap up to the clock above the fire to read it's surprisingly 7am in the morning. I groan at the thought of going to school but last night I came up with the most perfect plan instead of running away.

I'd spent many hours wondering how my life had become so fucked up over the last few weeks. Some of the things I've been doing I would never have done before all this madness began. It's like some demon had possessed me and forced me into doing them.

Then it made me wonder why can't it all just stop? Why can't I just revert my life back to how it was before Duo and before Zechs? Even if that means I have to fail English. You know what fuck English and fuck you Mr Khushrenada for pairing me off with Duo.

To start off my perfect plan I go for a run.

Every morning before Zechs and I – you know - I used to go for a run. It was a great way to get away from everything and just think. Except today because I feel like absolute shit and look like an idiot running with my sunglasses on to shield my sensitive eyes from the light. By the time I get back I look like I've ran a marathon and I feel like it to.

Next I take a shower and use my favourite Vanilla shower wash. I brush my teeth and dress and by 8:15 I'm ready to leave for school.

However my plan crumbles as I think of what I usually do next.

Next I would usually pick up Relena.

I feel my teeth grit together in frustration. But that will change. By tomorrow I will be back dating Relena Peacecraft. She has no chance with Quatre now that he and Trowa are like a frigging married couple.

Instead I use the extra minutes to clear up the mess I've made and leave a note for the cleaner to apologise for the large stain on the wall where I threw my beer bottle. I'm surprised I didn't injure myself by walking on the shards of glass which had sprinkled all over the carpet.

I leave the house 10 minutes later and arrive at school on time to get to my home room and slide into my usual seat just before registration. I sit contently drumming my fingers together hoping that the stupid teacher would just hurry the fuck up and take the register.

Trowa and WuFei turn up a few seconds later. They both take their usual seats and ignore the fact that I'm present. However that's partly because I've chosen to ignore them. Arseholes.

My eyes light up as I see Relena hobble into the room with Dorothy following closely behind her. She's wearing Pink. I hate pink. Have I always hated pink? I don't think I used to when she wore it. Even the cast on her leg is pink. She looks like a walking marshmallow.

Her eyes fall on me and she lets out a huge smile. She has a dangerous look in her eyes which usually means trouble. She raises her hand and gives me a small tinkering wave. My body chills in response.

I see her mouth "find me at break it's important" and I feel my stomach churn.

What is wrong with you Yuy?!

She's the girl of your dreams. The most perfect girlfriend anyone could ever imagine. You are **forcing** her to be your girlfriend today if she likes it or not!

All of a sudden it feels like the whole room is closing in on me – I need to get out and find some space.

I register with the teacher and I'm out of my seat before the bell has even rang.

I push past Trowa who looks like he wants to say something and I'm out the door running down the corridor like a lunatic trying to escape from their ward. I round a corner and nearly jump out of my skin as I notice Duo at the end talking to Quatre.

I quickly hide behind the bend and take a peak to see him laugh at something Quatre has said.

The fucking arsehole!

How dare he be so happy and cheery after what he's done to me?! He's made us fail English!

My heartbeat speeds up as I notice the sparkle in his large amethyst eyes covered by those hideous glasses. All I wanna do is go up to him and rip them off to show everyone how beautiful he really – whole fuck – this was not part of the plan!

I drag myself away from the scene before I do anything I regret and storm into the male toilets hoping to hide out for a lesson or two until I can finally see Relena to continue executing the perfect plan.

I curse, however, as I find myself face to face with the other problem in my life.

Zechs.

A very pissed off looking Zechs.

**TBC….**

Hello there! Thank you for all the reviews :D I have to admit as most of you have probably noticed I am crap at updating. I really do want to finish this fic as it is my all-time favourite to write. I also want to rewrite the whole thing to make it flow easier (and may much more sense, I swear I started to write this when I was 14 – a VERY long time ago :P). So tell me what you think and hopefully my updates will be more regular!


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